There have been big claims about the standout performance of speckle park cattle. It’s one of the fastest growing beef breeds, but there’s a lack of data to back up what producers claim. Landline’s Courtney Wilson introduces us to some graziers working to change that.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00First, impressions count.
00:14Even when your lot in life is beef production, it certainly doesn't hurt to be easy on the
00:20eye.
00:21Oh, look, I won't lie, and I know we're not meant to say it, but they're very attractive.
00:28They are.
00:32But beyond appearances, and more importantly, these beasts have a lot to offer producers.
00:40We've run so many different breeds over the years, and on every front, they just outdo
00:46all the other breeds.
00:51Dale and Stacey Jones run Ivory Downs Speckled Park, a cattle stud that sprawls across 1,600
01:01hectares in the picturesque Brisbane Valley.
01:05Right now, they're running a mix of commercial cattle, while also slowly building their herd
01:10of purebred speckled park beasts.
01:15Known for their unique speckled hides, the attractive breed appealed to Stacey right
01:20off the bat.
01:23But for Dale, to begin with anyway, their outward appearance wasn't much of a selling
01:28point.
01:30Stacey wanted them.
01:31I didn't want a bar of them.
01:33We bought 40 PDIC Brangus cows to Speckled Park Wills, calved them, weaned them with
01:39all our others, probably 400 other calves, 500 other calves, and the speckles just left
01:44everything 30 kilos heavier the whole way through feeding.
01:47So we sort of thought we were onto a good thing, stuck with them.
01:53The distinctive breed originated in Canada and was first brought to Australia in 2007.
02:00Aside from their aesthetic appeal, they're well known for having an affable temperament
02:05and are marketed as being hardy and able to handle harsh conditions of all extremes.
02:12Taking the breed from a hobby to a household name has proved difficult.
02:18It's hard sometimes in a smaller breed to get that data and get enough scalable data
02:24to really meet what the supply chain's looking for.
02:27But data from a carcass point of view and to be able to promote your product and where
02:32it fits in the market is extremely important.
02:33500, 500 out there.
02:355,500, still online.
02:37Coming in fine.
02:38Coming in 30,000.
02:3930,000.
02:4030,000.
02:4130,000.
02:42Twice yearly now, the Joneses host a multi-vendor sale on their property, to give Speckled Park
02:48breeders a Queensland option to sell their animals and to give the cream of the crop
02:54some exposure.
02:55Hold on, 5,000.
02:565,000.
02:57It is a regretful sale, we've got to sell a good one so we thought we'd put a good
03:02one up.
03:03And why do you say that, why is she one of your favourites?
03:06She's one of our favourites, just the temperament and just the style of her, she's just what
03:09we're trying to breed so she just ticks all our boxes so we're hoping she ticks everyone
03:13else's boxes.