A Brief History Of Speckle Park Cattle The history of the Speckle Park breed is not without controversy. There are conflicting versions of events with strong common threads. It is perhaps not necessary, for the purposes of this journal, to analyse the exact history of Speckle Parks, rather it has been drawn from personal contributions and will, therefore suffer from differing subjective perspectives. This article will not, by its nature, applaud all the many important breeders who have made contributions to the breed and for that, I apologise. Rather, it will simply plot the course most commonly printed. In 1937, Mary Lindsay, a farmer’s daughter with a keen interest in cattle, purchased a roan Lineback speckled heifer. Her father had bought from the Formo family in Saskatchewan Canada, largely because of its unique colours. I have not been able to establish whether it was a Randall Lineback or American Lineback or whether it was simply assumed to be a Lineback because of its speckled colours. It was said to be a “roan” Lineback and may easily have been an Irish Moiled heifer or one of the many other roan speckled breeds. A simple review of the Lineback and the Randall Lineback will quickly confirm their peculiar colour association with the Speckle Park breed as we know it today. As to the exact origin, we are left in the dark, with the exception that the breed emanated from Mary Lindsay’s heifer. As a bonus, breeding with the heifer produced consistently good calves with low birth weights and the same speckle colouring which appeared to be a dominant gene. The illustration below is of Randall Linkbacks which have the characteristic “Skunk” white stripe down the dorsal section of the animal. The picture of the calves (at that stage without horns) would show a strong similarity to the latter-day Speckle Park calves. Linkbacks already had the ‘Black Points”
In 1959, Bill Lamont, a Canadian farmer from Maidstone, bought speckled heifers from Mary Lindsay and started to breed those heifers with his purebred Angus Bulls. The result was an enhancement of the original traits due to the excellent Angus breeding. It is almost impossible not to underscore the gargantuan role played by Bill and Eileen Lamont in transforming the Speckle Park from a hobby breed to a commercial success. It was Bill who started to keep meticulous records and introduced Angus blue blood genetics to the breed. It was also during his era that the four colours of the Speckle Park Breed emerged: the Speckled colour, Leopard, White and Black. In fact, one of his documented bulls, Bull B is photographed showing a white colour and structure not too different from one of the important latter-day sires, A &W 15 R. Bill Lamont’s excellent breeding program, record keeping and watchful eye attracted a group of farmers from Neilburg all of whom progressed the number of Speckle Park cattle As the speckled herds grew in Saskatchewan, other farmers started to take an interest and there appeared to be a fair amount of cross breeding with a view to continue to produce a well-structured, high yield animal with good temperaments and low birth weights with the characteristic speckled colours. The girth and thickness of the breed became a popular feature and some would say that Shorthorn, Angus and Park animal traits were reliably reproduced. Interest in the speckled animals became popular with cattlemen and the press and finally three steers were entered in the 1972 Toronto winter fair and were featured in Case International under Minority breeds in Canada. Speckle Parks were still affiliated to Angus breeding and were included in Lloyd Piccard’s “100 Years of Angus Breeding in Canada” in 1983. The power, skill and expertise of the Neilburg farmers resulted in the Canadian Speckle Park Association being formed in 1985. In 1993 approval was obtained to register the breed under the Canadian Pedigree Act for the purposes of a “Developing Breed” and finally in 2006 the breed became a distinct recognised purebred breed under the Canadian Pedigree Act. In Calgary, in 2010 Speckles stole the limelight winning the carcass competition in places 1-4, 7 and 10th place, - 6 out of the top ten places. This performance has not been equalled or bettered in 100 years of cattle history in Canada by any breed. The carcasses weighed between 711-734 kgs, AAA marbling of between 40-50 a rib eye average 90sq cm and fat cover of between 8-11.3 mm In the past twelve years the Speckle Park breed has won the renowned Calgary Stampede Carcass Competition and the Stampede Taste and Tenderness Test seven times.
The heifer was reputedly crossed with a Teeswater Shorthorn and a British Park (British White). The name of the breed apparently emanated from the speckled colouring and the role apparently played by crossing the Speckles with Park cattle. The progeny of this these crosses produced good udders and were sound in structure. There is literature that suggests that even a highland bull was used and the result of the cross breeding appears to have introduced hybrid vigour.
The development in Australia will be dealt with elsewhere in this journal but the history of this breed as demonstrated by the articles in this journal shows a meteoric and unmistakably upward trend in which Speckle Park is demanding a place in the showring and carcass competitions amongst the major breeds. Martin Luitingh Bigwig Speckle Park Stud.
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