how do we like our Jersey/Dexter cross cows?

This from a fellow farmer:

I raise Dexters and I was listening to your session at the 2023 Homesteaders convention in Tenn and you said that you like the Dexter/jersey cross, could you describe more about the reason that you like that cross?

We’ve had Jerseys since 1998. Around 2010 we ended up keeping a couple of Dexters for a year or so, and were really impressed with their good conversion of low-quality forage into meat and milk. On forage alone, they weren’t falling much short of our heritage-size Jerseys in milk production, and they are much stockier and sure-footed. Here in Appalachia, where we might be grazing slopes a good deal north of thirty degrees, heft and sure-footedness are important characteristics. So, we started watching the Dexter scene. Great looking animals out there, but as we researched what herds we could locate online, we saw a gap: Where Dex breeders could tell us all about hardihood, wrapped weight, and high-quality meat, records of milk production and lactation lengths were nowhere to be found. It seemed that Dexter breeders in general (although we’re sure there are some excellent exceptions) were mostly content to take the dairy part of their ‘dual purpose’ breed for granted; and the ugly udders we were seeing between almost every set of hocks seemed to confirm that. After some thought, we bought a Dex bull to cover our Jersey and JerseyX cows, and have been selecting from among the offspring for animals that please us – nice udders with longer teats, high components, decent production, and a Jersey form with some Dexter flesh on it. We are JUST LOVING them – beautiful little girls about 45″, maybe 700# (this is a guess). They are doing good things for us and the farm.