Speckle Park International Magazine 2020 | Digital Edition

The Official Magazine of Speckle Park International

2020 | ISSUE 01

SPECKLE PARK

The new beef breed thriving in the north, in dairy, and more.

AI/ET TIPS

From bull management advice to tips to improve results from artificial breeding.

DAIRY BEEF BONUS

Youth Focus Young breeders share why they breed Speckle Park, and the best advice they have been given.

Speckle/Dairy-cross calves improve bottom line.

specklepark.org I N A U G U R A L

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OUT & ABOUT P H OTO S C O U R T ES Y O F: A L E X D I X O N , S A R A H F O R S Y T H , AUSTR ALIAN COM MUNIT Y MEDIA, RUTH M AL ASPINA .

FUN TIMES: South Waikato dairy farmers and Speckle Park International members, Anita Syben and Mitchell Durie, at the Maungahina Speckle Park Sale in July 2020.

HIGH PRICES: Dale and Robyn Scott, Gippsland, VIC, set a new Australian record for commercial cows with calves on October 30, via AuctionsPlus. The total consignment of 45 C&C topped at $5580 and averaged $4034 per unit. Dale and Robyn are pictured with their livestock agent, Alex Dixon (left), Elders Korumburra, VIC.

NEXT GEN: Molly McKenzie, Masterton, and Rachel Durie, South Waikato, at the Maungahina Speckle Park Sale in July 2020.

NEW RECORD: Lincoln McKinlay, Elders Stud Stock, Dale Humphries, Wattle Grove Speckle Park, Oberon, and Michael Glasser and James Brown, both of Glasser Total Sales Management, with the world-record $68,000 Wattle Grove Paperboy, in October.

SALE SUCCESS: Members of the Plunderer buying syndicate including the Potter family, Polly and Clinton Austin, David Reid and Dennis Power of Minnamurra Speckle Parks, together with auctioneer, Paul Dooley, and Elders agent, Brian Kennedy. Minnamurra Plunderer P196 sold at the Minnamurra sale in September for a then-Australasian record $40,000.

SCONE HIGH: Grant Kneipp, Battalion Speckle Park Stud, Dundee, NSW, with Battalion Heartbreaker P6, which was the $30,000 top-priced female at the Scone Invitational Speckle Park Sale, NSW, in April.

QUIET CATTLE: Tending to Hanging Rock Harold L05 are Paris Hourn, Flinders, VIC, and young Sofia Malaspina, Riddells Creek, VIC, at the Hanging Rock Speckle Park Beef Week Open Day in February.

PAG E 3

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S SPECKLES IN THE NORTH PAG E 0 8 Three Queensland cattle producers share their experiences with Speckle Park. They’re tough, highly fertile, and in demand.

BUTCHERS SEEK QUALIT Y PAG E 1 9 “It is as good as, if not better, than any other breed I’ve worked with. Each carcase I’ve used over the years has been impressive and consistent,“ said Vic’s Premium Quality Meat butchery team leader, Darren O’Rourke.

BIG COMMERCIAL DEMAND PAG E 5 6 Speckle Park have regularly featured in media headlines in recent months, setting national and saleyard records for commercial cattle.

13

Speckle Park to be the breed of choice in the dairy industry for dairy beef.

16

Breed society changes to fast-track growth, with new service provider and CEO.

20

Speckle Park beef: feedback from the butchers.

22

New Zealand dairy farmer gains up to an 80% price premium for beef/dairy-cross calves.

25

Trials supports breed claims that Speckle Park produce high yields, marbling, and premiums.

27

Getting started with Speckles. Why choose Speckle Park? Colour patterns, myostatin, and more.

30

Cost of production: How much does it really cost to produce a saleable Speckle Park bull?

31

New Zealand dairy farmer chooses Speckle Park for the marbling, and more.

32

TSU’s versus hair samples. What breeders need to know.

36

Bull management: Central West NSW veterinarian shares his tips to ensure bull success.

42

The great western state: Western Australia breeder says demand for Speckle Park is growing.

44

Breedplan: Tips for small herds, how to performance record ET calves, mature cows, and more.

48

Next gen knowledge sharing from 10 young Speckle Park breeders.

50

Understanding the basics of artificial insemination.

53

SPI Technical Sub-Committee report: a big year ahead, with more research, trials.

58

Value in whole-herd recording for Breedplan.

60

Tips for embryo flushing and transfer success.

62

Understanding marketing and social media for stud breeders.

64

SEMEN DIRECTORY

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Australian Premier Genetics

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Premier Cattle Co

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Bendee Speckle Park, Ewyn Speckle Park

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Speckle Park International

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Robert’s Meats / Ersyldene Speckle Park

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Phone: P: +61 (0)409 031 728 Email: info@specklepark.org Website: specklepark.org Contributors: Alison Bates Amy Dickens Sarah Forsyth Anne Knoblanche Poppy McBain Nettie McGrath Carly Moyes Charlie Sutherland Layout: Nathan Shooter, Brandhood Media

DISCL AIMER Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Contributors or of the Board of Speckle Park International Ltd. Neither the Contributors nor Speckle Park International takes any responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained within this publication, nor for the outcome (including consequential loss) of any action taken by readers or others based on information contained.

The publisher reserves the right to refuse or cancel without notice any advertisement in a publication issued by them.

CHAIRMANS WELCOME MESSAGE W R I T T E N B Y WAY N E M U N T / D E R E K H AY WA R D S P E C K L E PA R K I N T E R N A T I O N A L A N N O U N C E D I T S N E W C H A I R M A N , D E R E K H AY WA R D , O N D E C E M B E R 1 , 2 0 2 0 . O U T G O I N G C H A I R M A N , WAY N E M U N T, S H A R E S T H E F O L L O W I N G W E L C O M E M E S S A G E .

WAY N E M U N T IT IS my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the 2020 annual Speckle Park magazine.

Firstly, I would like to thank my fellow board members and the sub-committee members who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes over the past 12 months.

Well!!!!!!, 2020, I must say, will go down in history as a year of extreme ups and downs in Australasian agriculture – crippling drought, floods in Queensland of epic proportions, horrendous bushfires, global trade wars, and then the global COVID-19 pandemic.

As the year draws to a close, we see the breaking of the drought, bumper crops in many parts of the Australia, record prices for cattle, and the continued penetration and adoption of Speckle Park genetics across the cattle industry.

Records have been repeatedly broken in both Australia and New Zealand for both stud and commercial stock.

This year saw a world record paid for an Australian stud Speckle Park bull, and also an Australasian record price paid for commercial Speckle Park cow/calf units over any breed.

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt across our industry, from the cancellation of major Royal shows in 2020, to significant movement restrictions. However, an upside was the continuation of hoof and hook competitions, which once again shone a light on Speckle Park cattle.

With the tremendous growth being experienced and to maintain an expected quality of services to members, the board has undertaken the most comprehensive structural changes to our breed society since its inception in Australasia. In November, we transitioned our key service provider from the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) to PPB in New Zealand. At the same time, we employed our first Chief Executive Officer, Hannah Bourke. Setting up a range of sub-committees has also provided a massive resource boost.

The breed's further success is reliant on continued uptake in the commercial sector, and for this to advance it is imperative that buyers of Speckle Park genetics can buy with confidence. I would encourage all members particularly new entrants to the Industry - to take the time to read all the technical information available.

On a personal level, I’m very excited with the direction the Speckle Park breed is heading. While I have taken a step back from the Chairman's role for personal reasons, I look forward to working with the board going forward, and wish Derek Hayward the best in his role as Chairman.

our CEO and the transition to PBB.

D E R E K H AY WA R D IT HAS been with pleasure that I have accepted the role as Chairman of the Board for SPI.

I look forward to chairing a strong cohesive board that is committed to providing further development and growth of the Speckle Park breed for the benefit of the membership of SPI.

I would like to acknowledge the time, commitment and work our outgoing Chairman, Wayne Munt, has put in during his time in the chair. Wayne led us through times of major change; none more so than functioning in a world with Covid and all the obstacles that come with it, including planning SPI's online Zoom AGM, the recent addition of

We must continue to take the breed forward in all areas of the industry. As a breed we must continue to use the tools available to us as well adopt the new technologies that will enhance and strengthen that growth and ultimately see Speckle Park firmly in place as a mainstream breed in the world's beef industry.

PAG E 7

S P E C K L E PA R K IN THE NORTH WR IT TEN BY A MY D I CK ENS

WHEN something new is introduced, a chorus of naysayers can often be heard chanting “that won’t work here”, but they’re being silenced in Queensland.

Whether it be their early maturity, calving ease, hardiness, adaptability, or simply the great tasting beef, Speckle Park is making a noise of its own in the north.

Many ponder how a breed developed in Canada, with Winters down to minus 40 degrees Celsius, could possibly thrive in hot and harsh Queensland conditions.

We spoke with three Queensland commercial beef producers about their experiences to date since introducing Speckle Park, and in a nutshell, they’re glad they took the leap of faith.

At Winton in western Queensland, David Birchmore and his family manage 26,300 hectares across Kiriwina and Bernborough Downs Stations.

Theirs is a family with a rich history in the Droughtmaster breed, with David’s parents establishing a stud upon buying the land David now manages back in 1985.

“We were looking for a change because we didn’t feel we were progressing with the Droughtmasters,” David said.

“We felt we weren’t achieving the meat quality we were looking for, and had heard about Speckle Park and their great attributes.”

Four years ago, they bought 10 purebred Speckle Park bulls and joined them to Droughtmaster cows, following up with a purchase of pregnant F1 Speckle Park/ Angus cows, and further Speckle Park bull purchases thereafter.

“I think a lot of people had thought we’d gone mad having this sort of a change after 30 years,” David said.

“We noticed straight away that there was more width in the Speckle Park compared to the Droughties, and we have been eating the Speckle Park-crosses and the meat is so much more tender.

“The Droughties are good performers in our conditions, but we have found the Speckle Park/Droughtmaster cross to offer a consistently higher eating quality than what we were previously serving up.”

The Birchmores generally run around 2000 Droughtmaster cows, but fewer at present due to prolonged drought - the only time they have hit their average annual rainfall since 2012 was last year, and that was on the back of monsoon flooding in February, 2019.

Despite this adversity, the introduction of Speckle Park has been a positive story, and one David is now pleased to be able to share with confidence.

“We haven’t had any calving dramas with them, and we’ve been consistently pleased with the results we are achieving,” he said.

“The bulls seem very fertile and do a lot more work than the Droughtmasters do, that’s for sure - they jump on things that don’t even need jumping on some of the time!

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Trading as Birchmore Commercial Crossbreds, recent sales results via online selling platform, AuctionsPlus, have only cemented the success story.

In July, they sold 136 7-18-month-old Speckle Park/ Droughtmaster steers and an equal number of purebred Droughtmaster steers of the same age and weight, with the Speckle Park-cross steers achieving nearly 20 cents a kilogram premium.

“It’s very obvious that people are starting to chase better meat quality, and going forward we see that as the direction we want to follow, so we will continue to breed better beef,” David said.

David says the Speckle Park bulls deal with Summer heat by spending time in dams, but suggested they must work at night.

“We’re getting about 85% conception in a natural joining, and this would be around district average, so they’re doing the job,” he said.

Talki Station is owned and managed by Kimberly’s father, Stephen Lund, and after their first bull stepped off the truck onto Talki soil, as a 400kg+ 10-month-old, they decided as a company (Talki Pty Ltd) to buy three more.

“They’ve blown me away, and I think that really the future for Speckle Park in Australia is going to be a very good one, because they just have everything in one,” Kimberly said.

She said in their first drop of Speckle Park/Brahman (“Brahkle”) calves out of heifers, they were born small, unassisted, and early in the calving window.

“The calves and how they grew, compared to the straight Brahmans and Charolais-cross, was excellent,” she said.

“In a bull, I look for a big strong masculine head, length of body, good muscling – especially over their hindquarter – and generally good tight sheaths.

“I think the breed very much has a place in the commercial industry now, and there is a future for them in the north.

“When you put them out in the paddock they know what their job is and get to work, and by getting them at 10 months of age, they have plenty of time to adjust to our conditions.

“The breed is definitely becoming more well-known up here now, and people are commenting how they’re the flavour of the month.

“It’s been extremely dry up here for so long and they have done quite well, with us getting up to 95% conception from heifers.

“It’s a matter of time before more producers catch on and give them a try.”

“We seasonally mate, so they go out for three to four months a year and they otherwise rest and recover. The Speckle Park have handled our conditions better than the Charolais bulls.”

R ES I L I E N C E AT TA L K I This sentiment is echoed by Clermont producer, Kimberly Carey, whose family purchased their first Speckle Park bull in early-2017, to improve early growth in progeny from Brahman heifers at their 16,188ha property, Talki Station.

Kimberly said their Charbray cows were larger in frame score than their Brahkle cows, and their goal now was to phase out the Charbray altogether, while sticking with Brahkles and Brahmans.

“The Brahkles are a smaller-framed cow but just as heavy, they’re just as fertile, and they milk just as well but you don’t have this enormous beast to maintain, so you’re looking after your land better,” she said.

Talki Station is a breeding/fattening operation, with the best – and quietest - Brahkle heifers retained as breeders and the remainder sold together with the steer portion, ideally at 590kg+ when just under two years old to suit the European Union (EU) market.

PAG E 10

H I G H D E M A N D AT M A C K AY Further north-east to Blue Mountain, near Mackay, Travis Parry dipped his toe in the water and first tried a Speckle Park bull in the same year as the Careys – 2017.

“At that point in time, we were changing from Droughtmaster bulls to Brangus bulls over our predominantly Droughtmaster/Brahman-cross cow herd, and turning off 5-6-month-old weaner steers at 200220kg through the local saleyards,” Travis said.

Market influences were a priority, so it was a preference at the time for black-coated cattle that prevented them from jumping “boots and all” into Speckle Park.

“We got 86% from our first Speckle Park bull’s first joining to 60 head,” Travis said. “We thought that was a pretty good result, and especially given the background of that particular bull, which had been raised on buffel country and had come over to our coastal country.

“Our first calving of Speckle-cross calves was in pretty average conditions in 2018 while we were in pretty heavy drought, on the back of Cyclone Debbie in 2017.

“We had a 100% unassisted calving, and visually we thought the calf size was pretty good and we definitely noticed they were up and feeding a bit quicker and more energetic than calves of other breeds. We took them through to about six months old and had people banging on the door for the steer portion – we could have sold them probably six times over!”

The Parrys retained all of the heifers to use as breeders, and they have continued to grow the Speckle Park influence in their 300-cow herd.

“They actually did better with the ticks than some of the Brangus bulls with the higher Angus content,” Travis said. “We heavily use and rely on Cydectin Long Acting for tick control and have found it makes a massive difference.

“Our preference, if buying in a live animal, is to buy in an animal before it’s 15 months old, and preferably in the Winter months. We join from January 1 to the end of March, which is typically a pretty hot time of year and can get up to 50 degrees here some days, with humidity.

“We find the bulls might pant a bit in the heat of the day but will just stand in a dam to cool off and get back to work – especially at night. “They’re getting our cows in calf, so we can’t complain.”

Travis says there is a huge amount of interest in the breed in his region. “There is definitely a very positive future,” he said.

“We need to get the right type of Speckle bulls up here to do the job up here well. “People who didn’t take the breed too seriously in past years are now having a second look.

“Everyone that we’ve sold to has been ecstatic with how they have performed for them.”

Travis said his Speckle Park-cross calves tend to weigh about 20kg heavier than the Brangus/Droughtmastercross calves at weaning, the females had an ideal maturity pattern, and he was glad to be involved with a product that’s in high demand. * Thank you to David Birchmore and Kimberly Carey for supplying images to support this story.

PAG E 11

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1

S P E C K L E PA R K I N T H E DAIRY INDUSTRY W R I T T E N B Y N E T T I E M C G R AT H RAISING beef-cross calves has in the past had its challenges for Doug Raphael, but that has changed since adopting Speckle Park at his 1100-cow Muswellbrook dairy.

He has most appreciated the survivability, overall muscling and docility of his Speckle Park-cross calves, and believes that in 10 years time, Speckle Park will be the breed of choice in the dairy industry for crossbreeding.

Mr Raphael (pictured, left, with his brother, John) runs a self-replacing Holstein Friesian herd at "Glen Eden", along the Hunter River. Cows are run on pasture grown under 330 hectares of pivot irrigation. They are supplementary fed at milking and on feed pads post milking. He grows out all their own heifers in a shedbased system and feed on the crossbred beef calves.

Mr Raphael's main objective is to increase profitability by decreasing the cost of production and maximising efficiency of the cow herd. In 2017, after consultation with his semen supplier, he was given the opportunity to use a Speckle Park bull, Semex Alliance Yogi Goes Redneck (SDS 7Y), as an AI sire.

"We were open to the option as we are always looking for a way to increase profit, and the beef-cross calves are another revenue stream," he said.

Traditionally, they found raising beef-cross calves to be harder than imagined as they do not always receive the time and attention of the dairy calves. The subsequent calves by the Speckle Park bull were born unassisted, all survived in the calf pens, they were almost too quiet, they were great on the feeders, and they grew into solid beef-cross animals.

Mr Rapheal said the main traits he looks for in a sire are, calving ease, low requirement for labour/vets/drugs to help maximise profit along with less deaths in the calves themselves.

"We value colour marking ability, to increase the marketability of the calves, and fleshing ability of the offspring to ensure that if we feed the calves after weaning that they don’t retain too much of the dairy type," Mr Raphael said. "We have been lucky to have been supplied with semen both chilled and frozen from a local stud and they select sires knowing what we require."

Mr Raphael fits all cows with Semex ai24 collars to automatically actively monitor heats, and they are AI’d morning and night over a period of six months.

"This allows us to select elite sires for our dairy business as well as maximise conception rates, as the total size of the cow herd doesn’t make using live bulls easy or effective," he said.

Mr Raphael said they made sire selections based on genomic information, with a focus on fertility in recent years. "This ensures that we are breeding fertile females for the herd as the biggest selection pressure in our system is pregnancy status," he said.

When asked where he felt Speckle Park could improve, he suggested availability of more yearling bulls would better suit his operation, for use over heifers.

This year, Mr Raphael’s operation has trialled female sexed semen over Holsteins to ultimately allow them to join more cows to beef semen. "This will reduce the number of male Holstein calves which are the least profitable calves we produce and allow us to produce more beef cross calves to market," he said.

The positives Mr Raphael sees from Speckle Park-cross calves in his program include the high sale value of calves, which are bred with a low cost of production helping to ensure that all cows produce profitable calves.

A GENETICS SUPPLIER’S VIEW TIM Weller lives with his wife Lindy and four-year-old son, Toby, on 364ha near Coolamon, in the NSW Riverina region. His farm is mainly cropping with a small group of beef cattle. Tim is also the National Marketing

PAG E 13

Manager for globallyowned cattle genetics company, Worldwide Sires Australia. Tim is responsible for marketing, pricing, and qualifying, with a dominant focus on the dairy industry.

At home, their cropping operation is complemented by a small herd of about 40 purebred, F1, F2 & F3 Speckle Park cattle.

The demand for Speckle Park sires by World Wide Sires' dairy customers has grown over they past few years.

Tim has noticed the demand for Speckle Park genetics in the dairy industry has grown significantly over the past few years with clients opting to buy a purebred bull to use as a mop-up bull for their AI programs.

The use of mating programs for Tim's clients is a tool he likes to use. Tim also carries out significant research into pedigrees, maternal lines, data, genomics and estimated breeding values (EBVs) to determing the best options for his clients' needs. He said clients were primarily looking for low birth weights, temperament, good feet and legs, and extreme growth.

"The main points that dairy farmers are noticing is the easy calving and the vitality of the newborn calves," he said. "Dairy customers are impressed with the easy transition of Speckle Park-cross calves to being hand raised. Colour markings and the improved quality of meat is another key area the dairy industry is focusing on, with a better return for their businesses."

"Once customers try Speckle Park sires, they are finding that they do not go back to other beef crosses they have used in the past," Tim said.

Tim’s wife Lindy first saw Speckle Park cattle at the Singleton Show 10 years ago. They mainly ran stud dairy cattle right up until about five years ago, when Tim bought Lindy some pregnant Speckle Park-cross heifers for Christmas. Tim said he was amazed at the easy calving of the Speckle Park calves, and could not believe the weights once they were born. "The vitality of the calves was impressive," he said.

When asked where Tim sees Speckle Park cattle in 10 years time, he said: “If we could get more cattle through feedlots and be able to fill the supply chain, Speckle Park could be second-largest breed in Australia!"

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BREED SOCIET Y CHANGES T O FA S T - T R AC K G R O W T H WR IT TEN BY A MY D I CK ENS I N N O V E M B E R , 2 0 2 0 , S P E C K L E PA R K I N T E R N A T I O N A L U N D E R W E N T ITS BI GGEST STRUCTU R AL CHANGES SINCE INCEPTI ON, A N D T H E F U T U R E L O O K S B R I G H T. SPECKLE Park International - the breed society for the Speckle Park beef breed in Australia and New Zealand - has appointed its first CEO and engaged a new service provider to accommodate the exponential growth of the breed in Australasia.

Hannah Bourke has hit the ground running since starting her new role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on November 2, 2020, and brings to the role a wealth of experience in agribusiness – most recently as Genomics Beef Territory Manager with Neogen Australasia.

Speckle Park International Chairman, Wayne Munt, Gundowring, VIC, said the breed was going from strength to strength, and needed an engine to support this growth.

“The growth of the Speckle Park breed, particularly with the successes it continues to achieve in the commercial beef sector, has seen a need to match member demands with a more dynamic and professional solution, hence the employment of our first CEO Hannah Bourke which the Board are proud to have head-hunted,” he said.

She has gained extensive experience over a number of years working with cattle breed societies, genetic companies and beef producers worldwide.

“Speckle Park cattle have seen a huge adoption in recent years, and the commercial sector is really starting to take notice," Ms Bourke said.

"I’m really excited to be Speckle Park International’s first CEO and look forward to working hard to help take the breed forward into the future."

Speckle Park International has engaged Performance Beef Breeders (PBB) in Feilding NZ, as its new service provider - the 14th beef breed society under PBB’s management.

www.breffnifarm.com.au Alison Bates - 0432 965 456 breffnifarm@gmail.com Paul O’Rourke - 0407 364 586

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“Our members will receive a very good level of service with PBB and having Hannah Bourke as CEO will allow our breed society to explore new growth opportunities, research, and marketing for the breed.

"PBB is highly professional, modern and performanceoriented, and their staff have strong working relationships

with DNA laboratories around the world. PBB staff have a strong focus on customer service and satisfaction, and this was a major attraction for us as a board.�

Existing Speckle Park International members were sent a Member Welcome Pack in conjunction with the announcement, when it was made in October, 2020.

This pack included answers to expected questions. For example, Australian members are not required to send DNA samples to New Zealand, but are instead now sending them directly to Neogen Australasia.

At the completion of her first week at Speckle Park International, Ms Bourke (pictured, right) reported to the membership that she had met with both the breed society's marketing and technical sub-committees, and looked forward to working with them on the exciting projects they had in the pipeline.

"I also travelled to ABRI in that first week to ensure I was well up-to-speed ahead of the transition to PBB," she said.

"The transition has so far gone really well, with very few unexplained outstanding registrations, and so forth.

For more information, visit the Resources section of the Speckle Park International website. www.specklepark.org

We have invested in the best available Stud Females and Genetics from across New Zealand, Australia & Canada.

With emphasis on Conformation, Performance, Calving Ease, Temperament & Longevity.

- Martyn & Sarah Forsyth Clevedon, New Zealand

www.pinehillspecklepark.co.nz | sarah@pinehillspecklepark.co.nz | +64 21 1858 222

BUTCHERS SEEK QUALIT Y W R I T T E N B Y A L I S O N B AT ES THERE are those who say: ‘on the inside, cattle are all the same colour’. Then there are those who say: ‘If you want to know about meat, ask a butcher, not a farmer’.

We asked two butchers what they look for in a top quality beef carcase: Darren O’Rourke, butchery team leader at Vic’s Premium Quality Meat, Sydney, and Robert Constable, owner and managing director of Robert’s Meats, Singleton, NSW. "Fat colour and distribution, meat colour and texture, and levels of inter- and intra-muscular fat are probably the attributes I look for first," Darren said (pictured, above).

The list is similar for Robert Constable, but in addition to colour and texture, Robert looks for meat to bone yield.

"Speckle Park are flat-boned cattle, providing less bone and more meat," Robert said (pictured, below right).

Do Speckle Park cattle meet the standard for top quality meat? Very much so, according to the butchers. Robert Constable had been on the search for tasty, soft-eating beef with a good amount of intra muscular fat.

"Speckle Park has delivered that for us," he said.

Darren’s experience with the first Speckle Park carcase he received was similar. "Perfect fat cover, muscle conformity and meat colour," he said.

"We dry-age all products - specifically beef extensively at both Victor Churchill and at Vic’s Premium Quality Meat - and our first Speckle Park carcase was dry-aged for six weeks.

I was confident the end result would be fantastic. Added to this, the fine texture of the muscle indicates eating quality was already likely to be great. Dry ageing was only going to make it better. Speckle Park beef has always been of fantastic quality in my experience."

In sourcing premium quality meat, both butchers stress the importance of knowing one’s supplier and their product, even though they take different approaches.

Robert’s Meats uses vertical integration, maintaining ownership throughout the supply chain.

Robert believes Robert’s Meats is the only butcher that has a vertically-integrated supply of Speckle Park beef all year round in Australia. He looks for F1 (first-cross) at a

minimum, out of or by a purebred Speckle Park.

"It is very important to have a great relationship between butcher and farmer and even more important when the farmer is your long-term business partner," Robert said.

"The consumer needs to see the connection with where the beef is sourced and to do this, the butcher needs to know as much about the farming practices as possible to inform his customer."

Darren also needs to know his suppliers. "I’d want to know as much as I can about the land they’re on, their feeding regime, access to shelter, proximity to processors, and how they are transported," he said. "What are the farmer’s views and thoughts in and around regenerative farming practices and sustainability?"

The relationship with suppliers is very important for Darren O’Rourke. "It sits at the top of my list," he said.

"I simply have no desire to work with people that don’t think the same way."

Darren has a different strategy to achieve the same goal when sourcing top quality meat. "With the state of the market at the moment, everyone is ducking and weaving to secure product when and where they can," he said.

"Getting hold of quality produce from small, like-minded producers, however, remains as important as it has been for many years for me.

Consistency of supply is not what I’m after from small producers. It’s all about the quality of the product and if that means waiting for animals to be ready as opposed to rushing them through or producing poor quality animals then that’s how it is. Consistency of supply is not my end goal. Consistently amazing product and recognition of the farmer is what I’m always searching for."

Darren said Speckle Park beef is "as good as, if not better than any other breed I’ve worked with. Each carcase I’ve used over the years has been impressive and consistent.

Their feed conversion and very high yield adds to their value to any butcher," Darren said.

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S P E C K L E PA R K B E E F : F E E D B A C K FROM THE BUTCHERS STEER COMPETITIONS: SPECKLE Park-cross steers have performed consistently well in hoof/hook competitions right around the country – especially in the ‘hook’ component of these competitions, where it really matters!

FEEDLOT RESULTS: Excerpt from the 2018 Minnamurra Speckle Parks Sale Catalogue: THE SPECKLE ADVANTAGE – A CASE STUDY

FEEDLOT & CARCASS TRIALS

Minnamurra has achieved consistently good results with their cross-breeding program. A typical example is this data from a recent kill; a line of 148 Speckle/Angus steers sold to Mort & Co in October last year. They were out of our commercial EU Angus cows AI’d to JSF Redneck Whiskey 4B. We sold these steers early, at 13 months, due to the impending dry summer, and they went into Pinegrove feedlot at an average weight of 371kg, where they were fed for 180 days.

Results for Minnamurra Speckle Park x Angus Steers:

Their feedlot performance, note HGP free, was as follows: Entry weight:

371 kg

Consumption (as fed):

12.89 kg/day

Exit weight:

637 kg

Consumption (dry matter %)

10.15 kg/day

Days on Feed:

180 days

Conversion (as fed)

8.75 : 1

Average Daily Gain:

1.47 kg/day

Conversion (DM%)

6.89 : 1

Primex 2013

1st & 2nd Eating Quality MSA Score, Individual animal 3rd Carcass Performance, MSA Score & Yield, Individual animal

Beef Spectacular 2015

1st, 2nd & 3rd Carcass Competition 3rd, 8th & 10th in the team performance out of 95 teams 3rd & 4th for feedlot performance

Beef Spectacular 2016

1st Carcass Competition Riverine Premium Beef Champion Pen 7th in team performance out of 76 teams

RNA Paddock to Plate 2016

1st MSA Meat Eating Quality, 70 day Trade team 10th Paddock to Plate 70 day team overall

Gympie Classic 2016

Highest Index Score Award The Dylan Dalton Cattleman’s Choice Award

RNA Paddock to Plate 2017

1st Place pen of 6 carcasses, 70 day trade team 2nd place Paddock to Plate, 70 day team overall

They were killed on 9th April 2018 at Oakey abattoirs with kill data as follows: Number of Head

148

Gross Kill Weight Average Weight

13.7mm Marbling Score 0

2%

51,419 kg Fat Range 6-17mm

87%

Dark Cutters

Nil

347.4 kg

Fat Colour: 0

68%

Meat Colour: 2

50%

Fat Colour Range

0 to 1

Meat Colour Range 1C to 3

70%

Weight Range 320 kg to 380 kg 81%

Average Fat Cover

Average Dressing %

58%

Marbling Score 2+

Graded MSA

100%

Marbling Score Range 0 to 5

Health Status

Results for Minnamurra Angus Steers: Primex 2013

1st Team Eating Quality Awards 2nd Carcass Performance, MSA Score & Yield – Individual Animal 2nd Carcass Performance, MSA Score & Yield – Team Award 2nd Total Team Score

RNA Paddock to Plate 2016

1st MSA Meat Eating Quality, 100 day Trade team Highest Index Score, 100 day Trade 7th Paddock to Plate team overall

Beef Spectacular 2017

Riverine Premium Beef Champion Pen Reserve Champion Pen of 5 Steers 2nd, 5th & 8th in team performance out of 81 teams

Merriwa Annual Show

Champion pen of steers over the singular hook.

100%

Dentition: Milk teeth 99%

NB. Unfortunately, EMA measurements were not recorded, as these are not required for an EU kill.

“What was impressive about these steers was their consistency, the size of their eye muscle and the marbling they achieved, in spite of being so young and with no HGP pellets implanted. I am very happy with this Speckle cross”

“MPC have taken the challenge and entered all runs of stock into commercial feed lot and performance trials with continuous success. Having seen the random runs of stock entered off all MPC properties, I am genuinely very impressed at their continuous success. Often it has been the tail cattle sent for judging, as the lead is either too heavy or have long been sold.”

Berry Reynolds, Private Client Manager, Mort & Co Ltd

The bodies, as hung in the works

Andrew Hosken Industry Livestock Specialist

A typical eye muscle from the kill

BUTCHER FEEDBACK: “Our butcher says it’s the best meat he has seen and cut up ever - soft just like butter, with the perfect fat cover. It’s an absolute pleasure to work with. And it tastes awesome," via Wattle Grove Speckle Park, Oberon, NSW. “We have a contract with our local butcher. He buys any steers or heifers we kill because he’s never seen anything marble so evenly. The dressing percentage on the last three steers averaged 61% with 10mm fat and marbled perfectly," - Emily Trainor, Gingin Speckle Park, Bambun, WA (November, 2016).

“Some local Speckle Park beef on the block today! If you

Minnamurra Steers in Mort & Co’s Pinegrove Feedlot, Qld. (See opposite page)

want beef that melts in the mouth, then look no further!

Check out this tomahawk (pictured right)!" - Bullsbrook Meat and Gourmet, Perth, WA (July, 2017).

“Speckle Park beef. It isn’t like anything else! It is in a total class of its own. I’ve been cooking beef for a living for 20 years and nothing has compared to Speckle Park.

If you take into consideration the yield, it smashes all breeds. Time to get a marble score of 5, 6, 7. Smashes Wagyu and in terms of tenderness, I have seen people that shouldn’t be near a BBQ or a grill cook it and turn off a great tasting piece of steak! It’s number one," - Jason Keays, Michelin Star Grill Chef, caterer, and Fish Creek Farm Speckle Park, Gippsland, VIC (July, 2017).

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"The test of any meat in a butcher shop is the response and feedback from customers. In all the years we have sold Speckle Park beef, we have never had any returned because it was tough or chewy, so I would say it has both met and exceeded our expectations. There is certainly something to be said for the fat in Speckle Park cattle as it is what I call 'easy eating fat' with a buttery flavour that complements every mouthful," - Robert Constable, Robert's Meats, Singleton, NSW. Below is an image of a Robert's Meats meat display.

Purebred Speckle Park Genetics Bulls - Semen - Embryos

Robbie and Anna Clark Culverden, North Canterbury, New Zealand m +64 274 311 860 e specklepark@xtra.co.nz www.parkvalespecklepark.co.nz

N Z DA I R Y FA R M E R ’ S S P E C K L E PA R K F O R AY WRIT TEN BY SAR AH FORSY TH UP TO an 80% price premium for beef/dairy-cross calves has been a welcome reality for the Syben family on their New Zealand dairy farm.

roughage at the run off ”… and so on. Anita was easily convinced of the benefits of using Speckle Park bulls within their dairy Business, so she was totally on board.

A 2017 episode of a popular New Zealand television program, Country Calendar, focused on the Speckle Park breed and it was the beginning of an exciting new journey for the Syben family.

Previously, their business had used yearling Jersey, Angus or Hereford bulls to mate with their replacement dairy heifers.

Anita Syben and her four brothers own and operate a dairy farming enterprise in Putaruru, in the South Waikato region. Their herd is predominantly a Friesian and Friesian-cross dairy herd, comprising 1650 cows and 390 replacement heifers.

Their newborn calves would generally be culled and go to the abattoir as four-day-old bobby calves, so they had little or no value to the business. Anita said it really was not a difficult decision to try the Speckle Park breed.

Their parents immigrated to New Zealand from Holland in the late 1950s and started dairy farming in the area.

Anita and her brothers are all still farming in the same South Waikato area, and the brothers have expanded the business to three dairy units with two additional dry stock support blocks nearby.

All five Syben siblings enjoy the farming life, working outdoors with their stock and they strive to improve onfarm efficiencies to create a productive economic result.

“We are not averse to implementing new ideas or exploring out-of-the-box options, so our morning tea breaks often end up hosting some robust discussion, we blame it on the caffeine," Anita said.

Some innovative and exciting on-farm developments have come about as a result of those robust discussions.

Anita and her partner, Mitchell Durie, have their own property adjoining the farm, where they raised their two daughters, Nicole and Rachel (pictured, right).

In 2017, their daughter, Rachel, was away doing an agricultural science degree at Lincoln University in the South Island of New Zealand. One night she watched an episode of Country Calendar which showcased Speckle Park cattle. Rachel was impressed and enthralled with what she saw and felt that if she could come up with some valid reasons why the family business would be better off using Speckle Park bulls, she could also win – getting herself some lovely speckled calves.

She didn’t waste any time and made a phone call home: “Low birth weight Mum, gentle nature Mum, you could sell the calves at weaning Mum, they can eat the

Anita began her search to find a suitable purebred registered Speckle Park bull. “We needed to make sure that we could keep birth weights down for our young maiden dairy heifers that are only just two years old at calving," she said.

After purchasing their first pedigree Speckle Park bull in October 2017, Anita thought about starting their own small herd of purebred Speckle Park cattle.

“We talked to existing Speckle Park breeders in New Zealand, who were so helpful and enthusiastic, we were very lucky that they were willing to give us advice and contacts," Anita said. "We purchased some embryos in December, 2017, and these were implanted into some recipient cows that same month.

"They were grazed in the paddocks around our house and as the expected calving date approached, there were three-hourly paddock checks every night, it was so exciting”.

Anita joined Speckle Park International, and registered their stud, which they named after the street in Limberg, in the Netherlands, where her father was born and lived on the family farm before immigrating to New Zealand.

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heifers in our modern rotary cow shed at milking time, but we just wanted to give them a try, out of interest, and they are still in our milking herd”.

The two steers are still on the farm and the family is looking forward to some quality marbled Speckle Park beef when they are processed.

“In that first year, out of the six purebred stud calves born, we were fortunate to have five heifer calves and one bull calf," Anita said.

That same spring, their maiden dairy heifers were also calving, as was the main dairy herd. "It was a relief each morning to see our young dairy heifers nursing their Speckle Park-cross calves," she said. "Out of 30-odd calves that first season, there were hardly any assists and the calves all had low birth weights”.

After calving, the dairy heifers were introduced to the milking herd and the crossbred calves were raised on feeders. “It was super quick to teach them to drink from the feeders, and they remained healthy and strong," Anita said. "The Speckle Park-cross calves were reared together with our other calves, and the Speckle Park calves made weaning weight a lot faster than the other crossbred beef calves and they were solid".

Anita raises all her Speckle Park/Friesian-cross calves on milk from the shed and powdered milk, ensuring they have reached a minimum of 100 kilograms before selling them to her customers.

Many of her previous customers have returned to buy more, as they have been very happy with the quality of the calves she produces. They have had an excellent start to life, having been fed gold colostrum, followed by either fresh milk from the milking shed and powdered milk, with access to grain pellets, hay and grass.

"We easily sell the Speckle Park-cross calves at a premium, up to 80% more than what we would expect from other beef/dairy-cross calves," Anita said. The proceeds from the sale of the Speckle Park-cross calves is reinvested into her pedigree Speckle Park herd.

"The first year, we kept two dairy-cross steers for our freezer and two dairy-cross heifer calves," she said. "The two heifers were mated back to one of our purebred Speckle Park bulls and after calving, they were introduced to our rotary cowshed without too much fuss.

"Even though Speckle Park animals are a beef breed, we wanted to see for ourselves how they would perform in a dairy herd. At first it was unusual to see two speckled

"We purchased and implanted more embryos the following year and bought two more Speckle Park bulls, so we doubled the number of Speckle Park-cross calves from our dairy herd with very similar positive results," Anita said. "We had just under 100 Speckle Park-cross calves this season, which again performed very well."

Their business has found huge advantages in using Speckle Park bulls over their dairy herd as opposed to other breeds of bulls.

“The Speckle Park bulls have a much better temperament than the Jersey bulls we’ve had previously, so I don’t worry so much about staff having to handle them in the dairy herd," Anita said.

"We’ve had easy calvings for both our dairy cows and our two-year-old maiden replacement heifers, only having to assist with approximately 5% of our maiden heifers, with no assistance required with the second calvers."

Anita said beef growers like to purchase their Speckle Park-cross calves as they grow very well, mature early and their meat is known to have good marbling.

"The calves are very saleable, as opposed to other calves we have had previously, which have been sent off-farm as four-day-old bobby calves," she said.

"The calves are also very popular with lifestyle block owners. I have seen some entered in school calf club days, which is great to see as it gives the breed more exposure."

When selecting Speckle Park bulls to use in their dairy herd, Anita has used Speckle Park International’s website and Animal Register to look up bull pedigrees. "A bull’s birth weight is a major consideration as they are mated with our yearling dairy heifers," she said.

"We look at the raw birth weights and prefer to use bulls with a birth weight below 35kg." She likes to select bulls she can use both over their yearling dairy heifers and her stud heifers, so the Mating Predictor tool on the website is a very useful tool to plan the joinings of her stud heifers.

The biggest attributes Anita sees in Speckle Park cattle are: ▶ Meat Quality ▶ Performance – Calves grow fast, they're strong and resilient ▶ A very easy temperament and of course….Eye Appeal!

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S P E C K L E PA R K T R I A L SUPPORTS BREED CL AIMS WR IT TEN BY A MY D I CK ENS GROWTH in the Speckle Park breed continues to gain momentum, and a mid-2020 trial will add weight to the breed’s claims of superior yields, marbling, and ultimately premiums.

The trial saw 76 F1 Speckle Park/Angus heifers go up against 61 Angus heifers – all of similar quality and randomly selected - that were custom-fed together for 100 days at Conargo Feedlot, Deniliquin, and then processed on April 16 at Kilcoy Global Foods in southeast Queensland.

The trial resulted in the Speckle Park-cross heifers returning an average carcase price that was $149 per head higher than the comparison group.

Of note, 17 of the Speckle Park-cross heifers marbled 3+, with one scoring a five, while only one Angus heifer marbled 3+. Of all heifers in the trial, 89% had zero dentition.

The Speckle Park-cross heifers had a hot standard carcase weight (HSCW) of 291kg, an average P8 fat of 15.67, and returned an average of $6.90/kg carcase weight, or $2010 per head. The Angus heifers had a HSCW of 289kg, average P8 fat of 16.61, and returned an average of $6.44/ kg cwt or $1861/head.

The Angus heifers entered the feedlot 20kg heavier than the F1 Speckle Park/Angus group, and exiting the feedlot the Angus heifers were 17kg heavier – yet the Speckle Park-cross heifers yielded 2kg per head carcase weight more.

At the processor, fat samples were taken from each carcase and sent to Murdoch University in Western Australia for more in-depth analysis into fat melting temperature.

Speckle Park International (SPI) Technical SubCommittee Chair, Paul Guy, said the results at both the processor and science lab had piqued the interest of many in the industry.

“For MSA (Meat Standards Australia) marbling, 51.3% of the Speckle Park heifers scored 400+, while 22.4% scored 500+,” Mr Guy said.

“Of the Angus heifer group, 21.7% scored 400+ for MSA Marbling, while 1.7% scored 500+.

“At the end of the day, it’s dollars into our back pocket that pays, and in this trial, the Speckle Park heifers

performed really well, ranging from $6.65/kg to $6.95/kg cwt, while the Angus heifer price ranged from $6/kg to $6.60/kg cwt.”

Mr Guy said the fat melting temperature trial indicated very little difference between the two groups, with both groups “right up there” at the desired end of the scale.

“A lower fat melting point makes beef healthier,” Mr Guy said. “It has less saturated fat making it more like olive oil, and is better for cardiovascular health.”

The trial was conducted in conjunction with the CY O’Connor Foundation based at Murdoch University, and led by the foundation’s research director, Dr Sally Lloyd.

“The tremendous performance of Speckle Park animals in feedback trials like the Taste and Tenderness competition in Calgary, Canada, and the Paddock to Palate feedback trial here in Australia, made us curious as to why Speckle Park beef eats so well,” Mr Guy said.

“So, SPI wanted to investigate this, and this became a task for the Technical Sub-Committee. Given the great work Dr Sally Lloyd has done in the past, it was the ideal place to start.

“The results of our first trials were interesting as the average fat melting temperature of the Speckle Parkcross animals and the Angus control group were quite similar, although the animal with the lowest fat melting temperature was a Speckle Park-cross, and the animal with the highest melting temperature was an Angus.

“There was significant variation in the groups and further investigation and DNA studies look to be warranted. Both feed regime and genetics play a role.”

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G E T T I N G S TA R T E D WITH SPECKLES W R I T T E N B Y A L I S O N B AT ES

WHAT DO you need to know about Speckle Park? Here are answers to some common questions: Can I breed pure Speckle Park by grading (breeding) up to a Speckle Park through cross breeding?

No. Speckle Park has a closed stud book. That means you can only breed registerable Speckle Park cattle from cattle that are already registered. You can’t breed up to a registerable animal by increasing the purity over generations.

Why should I choose Speckle Park?

Speckle Park are hardy and do well in a wide range of conditions. They are easy calving and have a docile nature which makes them easy to work. It is the meat production where they really shine. They offer a high dressing percentage and readily lay down intramuscular fat and an even fat cover.

expect the combinations shown in the above graphic.

How can I be sure I am buying pure, registered Speckle Park cattle?

View the Speckle Park Animal Register at specklepark. org to ensure the animals you are purchasing are listed and that they are the animals you are purchasing. You can check their details such as pedigree, birth date and some genetic details, including red gene, myostatin and horned/polled status. If a seller says an animal can be registered, ask them to register the animals before you buy them. Having a contract in place which includes the verbal agreements which have been made will provide some protection in buying animals and ensure both parties have a common understanding of the agreed terms.

What is Myostatin?

There are four distinct colour patterns for Speckle Park; speckle, leopard, white and solid black. Black animals are registerable but can’t be shown.

Myostatin (NT821) is a recessive gene that influences the development of muscle. An animal can carry the recessive gene without any ill effect, but if it carries two copies of the recessive gene the animal will express the characteristic known as double muscling. These animals can’t be registered. Breeding with attention to the genetic profile of each animal means breeders can readily avoid breeding animals with this combination of recessive myostatin genes.

What colour patterns will I get when breeding?

What is the red gene?

Nature can deal out a few surprises but generally you can

Some Speckle Park cattle carry the recessive gene for

A recent trial has shown Speckle Park-infused cattle out-performing Angus on marbling scores, hot carcase weight and returning a higher average carcass price overall.

Can you explain the colours?

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red coat colour. If they carry one copy of the gene, the black colour will dominate and the cattle will appear as black. These animals can be registered. Animals carrying two copies of the red gene will have a red coat colour. These animals can’t be registered, although they may be excellent cattle. Checking the red gene status of the animals you are going to breed in the registry will allow you to avoid breeding calves which express the red colour.

What is the horned/poll gene?

Speckle Park must be polled to be registered. Like the genes for red colour and myostatin, the gene for horns is recessive. The register will tell you if the animal you are looking at is polled and it will tell you whether the animal carries the recessive horned gene. Homozygous polled

means they don’t carry the horned gene. Heterozygous polled means they do carry the gene but attention to the status of the animal you are breeding to will allow you to avoid producing a horned calf. The gene for scurs (incompletely developed horns which are usually not attached to the skull) is carried separately to the horned gene and has no effect on whether the animal has horns or not.

I want to buy frozen genetics. What should I look out for?

Make sure the cattle whose genetics you are interested in have an AI Sire or ET Donor Dam Permit in place on the Speckle Park International Register. Having AI sires and donor dams registered with the Canadian Speckle Park Association is insufficient to meet Speckle Park International requirements. You can check this on the animal registry. It will look like this "AI APPROVED : Yes" for a bull or "ET Donor: Yes" for a donor dam.

STUD BULLS, HEIFERS, SEMEN AND EMBRYOS AVAILABLE GERARD 0413 356 022 CAROLYN 0408 655 879

It is the vendor’s responsibility to have these permits in place so make sure your vendor is aware of this before purchasing semen or embryos. Check the genetic profile of the donors so you know the potential of producing red, double muscled or horned offspring.

Where can I go to get more information?

The Speckle Park International website www. specklepark.org has lots of background information, including buying and selling tips sheets, which are important pre-purchase reading.

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M&G Speckle Park Nimmitabel NSW Maryanne and Graeme 0458 081 239

Hanging Rock Beef

Speckle Park Stud

COST OF PRODUCTION WR IT TEN BY A N N E K N O BL A N CH E A C O M M E R C I A L B R E E D E R ’ S F O R AY I N T O S T U D – N O T F O R T H E FA I N T H E A R T E D SO HOW much does it actually cost to produce a stud bull? How much should one be prepared to pay?

Prior to transferring 200 Speckle Park embryos into quality Angus recipients in 2017, we thought we had modelled the costs pretty well. We were wrong.

Although it wasn’t our first foray into breeding stud cattle, it was the first time we took them through to sale.

Drought aside, it was enlightening to analyse the cost of producing and selling a line of quality stud animals.

The costs and labour required to satisfy performance testing, benchmarking and reporting was one of the areas significantly underestimated. The other area that impacted on the programme was the stringent culling – 24 out of 62.

This analysis does not take into consideration the cost of researching, locating, storing and transporting the genetics in the form of embryos required for a successful breeding programme.

It does allocate costs associated with marketing but does not take into consideration the time costs of client liaison, showing, social media presence and society involvement. Nor does it take into account infrastructure costs and the loss of flexibility around stock sales available in commercial enterprises.

This is a 'perfect season' analysis, with absolutely none of the ‘additional feed expenses’ that were incurred in our experience.

The expenses included supplements, CIDRs, embryos, vaccinations and disease control, ET technician, pregnancy scanning, DNA testing, scanning costs, registration and Breedplan fees, reproductive soundness assessment, and selling costs.

Embryos cost more than their purchase cost. With embryos at $1000 each and a 62% success rate at weaning, the cost for the transfers averages $1380 per head (p/h).

Animal management, husbandry, and feed costs excluding labour $1655 p/h. Labour $175 p/h. So before any cull, marketing, selling costs or transport, each bull has cost $3210.

Take out a couple of natural deaths and culls (we were tough) and only 51% of weaned animals were offered for sale. Add back the $1500 p/h ($36,000 in this case) for the culls and the cost per head for the bulls to be offered for sale is $4550.

Then add marketing costs of $400 p/h ($4950) and selling costs of 6% per head, and it’s up to $5500 p/h. $5500 in an absolutely perfect season - no drought, no COVID, no financial meltdown, no biological catastrophe.

In addition, producers still have to own or lease cover bulls, feeding infrastructure, superior fencing and yards, and staff who really know what they’re doing.

What would we expect to pay for a good quality bull?

At least $10,000. Would we ever resent paying this? No.

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FROM DAIRY TO NEW ZEALAND BEEF BRAND W R I T T EN BY SA R A H FO RSY T H FROM using Speckle Park in their dairy business to the development of a premium Speckle Park meat business, the Bennett family of Pahiatua, New Zealand, have firmly stamped their support behind the breed.

Grant and Charlotte Bennett farm in the Tararua district with their three young children, Izzy, Willie and Evie.

They milk 400 Friesian Cows - AI'd to Speckle Park bulls - on their 225-hectare home farm, and progeny are finished on their 526-hectare block nearby.

Grant was initially drawn to the Speckle Park breed as their high marbling scores were impressive, however, as he investigated the breed further, he realised the animals had a lot of other appealing attributes that would benefit their business, both economically and environmentally.

They were high-yielding carcase animals, resilient and early-maturing.

thrive on hill country. Temperament is also taken into consideration, as it has a direct effect with the pH of the meat and therefore, the taste and tenderness.

They looked at what consumers and their potential customers wanted and worked back from there to create a new arm of their business. Consumers like that the dairy-cross calves are grown to maturity on-farm and not sent to an abattoir as four-day-old bobby calves.

The partnership’s animals are sent to the abattoir at around 18-20 months old, so they only need to be grazed for one winter, as opposed to some other high-marbling beef cattle breeds that take longer to mature and may need to be grain-fed to achieve similar marbling. Not having to carry them over a second winter reduces damage to pasture, pugging of the land, and the partnership achieves higher returns. Their meat company will finish around 1000 head of grass-fed animals in the next 12 months, and 3000 the following year.

They have formed a premium meat company partnership, with three other partners: one a beef finisher with ties to a processing plant; the other two being Speckle Park breeders from the North and South Island. Good structure is paramount when selecting their bulls, as it is crucial that their progeny have good mobility and can

“If we have a tougher Spring and we are unable to get our animals to optimum weight, we can kill them early and still achieve a premium price with the marbling quality of the meat," Grant said. Their product has been extremely well received by high-end restaurants around the country.

They established their own Speckle Park stud and named it after the native Totara trees growing on their property, which are renowned by Maori for being strong and durable - just like the Speckle Park breed.

PRAIRIE HILL RANCH Registered Speckle Park

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Aimee Artindale Wayne Munt 0409 849 983 muntpastoral@outlook.com

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TSU ’S VERSUS HAIR SA M PLES. W H AT B R E E D E R S N E E D T O K N O W WR IT TEN BY H A N N A H BO U R K E H A I R S A M P L E S H AV E B E E N M O R E C O M M O N T O D A T E H O W E V E R T I S S U E S A M P L E S A R E Q U I C K LY T A K I N G T H E I R P L A C E .

THE SPECKLE Park breed is an industry leader among beef breeds in Australia/New Zealand when it comes to the use of DNA technology to assist in providing pedigree assurance and observation of genetic conditions.

To achieve registration with Speckle Park International, all animals born after January 1, 2018, are required to have a genomic SNP profile, full DNA parent verification to both sire and dam, myostatin, coat colour and poll/ horn DNA testing, with this information published on the SPI Animal Register.

All AI Sires and ET Donor Dams born after January 1, 2013, have required this same suite of tests prior to permits being approved.

DNA samples can be collected in a number of different forms, with hair, semen and tissue samples all accepted for testing with Speckle Park International.

It is vital that the root bulb is present in the hair sample as this is the part of the sample from which the DNA will be extracted.

Once the hair sample has been collected, it must be placed in a DNA collection kit. DNA collection kits are available on request from Speckle Park International, specific for testing to be completed at Neogen Australasia in Australia, or GenomNZ in New Zealand.

Collection of hair on extremely young animals can be problematic as the hair follicles are small and still developing. Animals should be at least 60 days of age (two months) before hair samples are collected. Hair has several advantages over other types of DNA samples including a lower cost of sample collection and easier long term storage of samples at room temperature.

Hair Samples

Tissue Samples (TSU)

Hair has to date been the most common form of sample used when submitting DNA.

More recently, several members have commenced using tissue sampling units (TSU), such as those marketed

by Allflex, to collect DNA samples, and they are the preferred method of DNA collection.

Hair samples should be collected from the switch of the tail, by selecting a minimum of 40 hairs (approximately the size of a thick pencil) that are dry and free of any foreign matter (e.g. manure, dirt), and pulling the hairs “up and away” from the tail switch. Pliers can be used if a better grip is necessary.

It is important to note that the DNA is not contained in the hair shaft itself, but rather in the follicle or root bulb.

TSUs involve the use of specialised equipment that takes an ear notch, places it in a collection tube that contains preservative, and seals the collection tube.

When using TSUs, it is important to carefully follow the directions that are provided to ensure the samples are correctly collected. Samples may be stored at room

PAG E 3 2

temperature, or in the fridge, until they are ready to send, before mailing them in a sturdy postage bag or box.

Keep the samples out of direct sunlight before mailing as UV rays will denature the DNA. TSUs are often integrated with ear tags, with the collection tube having a bar code that corresponds to the NLIS and management tag, which helps to prevent human error and sample mix-ups.

Semen Samples Semen samples are commonly used when DNA testing AI sires, imported sires, or old sires for which no other type of DNA sample is available. When submitting semen samples, it is best to remove the straw from the liquid nitrogen and allow it to gently thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. Do not store straws at room temperature for long periods of time before submitting the sample as it may mould.

Thawed semen straws need to be carefully protected when mailing to prevent damage from mail sorters and rough handling. A good strategy is to place the semen straw into the shaft of a ball point pen.

That is, take the ball point pen, remove the ink tube, insert the semen straw, and replace the cap of the pen.

Alternatively, semen straws can be placed in a slot between two ridges of cardboard. The protected semen straw can then be placed in a sturdy postage bag or box.

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BULL M A N AG E M E N T WR IT TEN BY DR ANDR E W DEN M AN REGULARLY, I am called out to properties to investigate issues relating to poor joining or bull related problems.

Obviously this is hugely frustrating to the owner, but on many occasions the issues involved could have been avoided with a proper bull maintenance program.

There’s no point locking them away on sub-standard feed in a rocky old paddock for 10 months and then expecting them to operate like the new bull you purchased 12 months ago. For longevity, productivity and profitability, there are a few simple steps producers can follow to ensure the maximum potential of their bulls is reached.

The first, and maybe even the most important point, is that year round management of your bulls is required for a successful bull management regime. Not just a quick 10-minute check and drench of the bulls the day you are putting the bulls in with your breeding herd.

A good understanding of the nutritional requirements of your bull, the preventable health treatments available, a thorough pre-joining examination and close observation during the joining are essential to minimise bull failure and optimise your joining.

General Health Management: Good year-round nutrition and pasture management is essential, and this includes good quality water. Making sure the bull enters the joining in good body condition score (not too light or heavy), as well as knowing the expected body condition loss during joining.

Monitoring the general health of the bulls during the off season. This may include body condition score, looking for chronic lameness and general health issues (scours/ coughing/lumpy jaw etc). Understanding local mineral and trace element deficiencies that are in your area and how you can go about preventing them.

Be aware of abrupt changes in feed when placing the bull in the herd for joining that may cause ill health or even death.

Disease Prevention: Drenches: Drenching for gastrointestinal worms and liver fluke, is very important. Bulls are more prone to GIT worms than mature cows, and they often are kept in small paddocks all year round with no paddock rotation.

PAG E 3 6

Bulls are normally forgotten about when the rest of the herd is drenched and only done prior to the start of joining.

To be most effective strategic drenching for liver fluke at certain times of the year may be required.

Close observation of the bulls for infection with external parasites (eg: lice) is important and early treatment will give better and more effective results.

Vaccinations: Most farmers seem to have a poor understanding of the diseases that they can vaccinate against. It is important that farmers take the time to not only know what vaccines are available to give the bulls, but also what the diseases are, how they affect your herd and whether vaccinating against these diseases is worth it.

Common vaccines administered to bulls are, 7-in-1, Vibrio and pestivirus vaccines.

Pre-joining check: Checking the bulls prior to putting them in with the breeding herd is essential. This can range from a thorough exam by the farmer, to a detailed examination

by a veterinarian including a clinical exam of the bulls, a crush side semen evaluation, semen morphology, a service ability examination or more.

Understanding some of the common issues that can occur to bulls to affect their reproductive ability is essential.

For example, understanding and knowing what to look for with issues like a corkscrew penis, broken penis and prolapsed prepuce is important.

Joining management plan: There are a number of issues that farmers should be thinking about when planning to join, these may include: • Single sire or multi sire joining, (if single sire joining should you rotate your bulls midway through the joining)

• Length of joining period (6-12 weeks) • Bull to cow ratio • Close observation of the bulls during the joining period is essential.

r Andrew Denman is a veterinarian at Orange D Veterinary Hospital, Orange NSW, specialising in large animals.

S P E C K L E PA R K B OA R D OF DIRECTORS HANNAH Bourke began her role as Speckle Park International’s first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on November 2, 2020, after previously working as Genomics Beef Territory Manager with Neogen Australasia.

Here are some words from Hannah, signalling her enthusiasm for the breed's future: "The demand for Speckle Park cattle and genetics in 2020 has been phenomenal, with records being broken around the country in both the commercial and stud beef markets.

"The bar has been set! As stud breeders, it is our responsibility to keep raising the bar and continually stive to improve the genetic gain and quality of cattle we are producing.

HANNAH BOURKE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER E: CEO@SPECKLEPARK.ORG P: +61 (0)409 031 728

"The year 2021 is gearing up to be bigger and better again, as we keep our foot on the pedal to launch Speckle Park cattle further onto the global stage as a mainstream beef breed.

"The commercial sector will be a key focus as we move forward and 2021 will see the revival of a brand-new youth program!

"There a plenty of things on the agenda, so watch this space."

DEREK HAYWARD

ALEX PATEMAN

PAUL LONG

VICE CHAIRMAN P: +61(0)428 791 972 E: apateman@specklepark.org

TREASURER P: +61(0)409 044 685 E: treasurer@specklepark.org

JUSTIN DICKENS

WAYNE MUNT

SARAH FORSYTH

P: +61(0)427 012 284 E: jdickens@specklepark.org

P: +61(0)409 849 983 E: wmunt@specklepark.org

P: +64 21 185 8222 E: sforsyth@specklepark.org

CHAIRMAN P: +64 27 226 6686 E: dhayward@specklepark.org

MARK CONSTABLE SECRETARY P: +61(0)427 482 147 E: mconstable@specklepark.org

DENNIS POWER P: +61(0)427 734 254 E: dpower@specklepark.org

T H E G R E AT W ES T E R N S TAT E WR IT TEN BY PO PPY MCBA I N WESTERN Australia is big. Really big. In terms of landmass, Western Australia is the biggest state or territory in Australia, accounting for 33% of the total continent. New Zealand would fit into Western Australia ten times over.

cattle, 1045 are specialist beef production farms, 240 are mixed sheep-cattle enterprises and 133 are dairy farms.

That leaves us with 3350 farms in Western Australia either currently involved with beef, sheep or dairy, or a little under half the number of total farms.

In fact, it’s the second largest country subdivision on earth, surpassed only by Russia’s Sakha Republic. With a total area of over 2.5 million square kilometers, 42% of Western Australia’s land is classed as currently in use for agricultural purposes.

Western Australia’s Beef Industry

Well, how productive is all that country? It’s a good question, as much of the landmass in northern parts of Western Australia is rangeland or pastoral country, where livestock are run over vast amounts of land at extremely low stocking densities.

The gross value of agricultural production in Western Australia from the 2018-2019 year was $10.7 billion, or 18% of Australia’s national agricultural production figure of $60 billion.

In terms of beef cattle, the state herd average has been relatively stable over the past five years and remains at approximately two million head.

The beef cattle market can be broadly divided into the following major supply chains – bos indicus cattle grown in the northern rangeland and pastoral regions for live export, and bos taurus cattle grown in the southern regions for boxed beef export or domestic consumption.

Around one-third of the cattle turned off in Western Australia annually are exported live, leaving the remaining two-thirds to be processed domestically at one of the 12 abattoirs in the state.

The boxed beef export market is led by Japan, the United States and Korea, with Indonesia and China playing a smaller role. Generally speaking, the meat going to Japan, the United States and Korea is from long-fed feedlot cattle, usually on a 220+ day program.

Typically, a steer would enter a feedlot at 400-600 kilograms and would work towards a liveweight of up to 800kg over the course of the program.

Speckle Park in Western Australia There are currently four studs registered with Speckle Park International based in Western Australia, of a total 405 studs on the database from Australia and New Zealand. One of those is Gin Gin Speckle Park, a 50-cow strong seedstock operation owned by the Trainor family and based at Bambun, about 70km north of Perth.

Of Western Australia’s human population, 34,900 people - or 3% - are directly employed in agriculture, forestry or fishing.

Not including farms with agricultural operations of a value less than $40,000 per annum, the total number of individual farms in Western Australia is 7290.

Of those farms, 1932 are mixed grain with either sheep or

The stud was established in 2011 and is a two-person father and daughter team, with Tony and Emily Trainor (pictured) working together to provide the Western Australia market with early-maturing Speckle Park cattle that have big growth rates.

A former meat worker, Tony first noticed the breed in The Weekly Times newspaper. “Nine years ago, I saw some

PAG E 42

“It certainly is changing. A breeder might be running 20 Angus bulls and he’ll start with buying two Speckle Park bulls, just to see how the cattle perform in their own herd against their existing genetics.”

As for their performance in Western Australia, Tony said the Speckle Park cattle performed really well. “They really perform, and right from down south in Albany, right up north of us to Geraldton, and out to the wheatbelt too.”

Opportunities in Western Australia for Speckle Park

pictures of some steers," Tony said. "I looked at them and I could just see the meat on them. I did my research and bought my first lot of embyros, and that was it.”

Tony said the West Australian market had been slow to change, compared with acceptance in the eastern states.

“There are a lot of old, traditional Angus breeders here, and they do move slowly," said Tony, pictured above.

"That said, in the past 12 months I’ve had a lot of phone calls, and a lot of people approach me to talk about Speckle Park.

Most of the facts and figures in this article have come from the WA government agricultural statistics website, which lists the bos taurus breeds in Western Australia as predominantly Angus, but includes Hereford, Murray Grey, Shorthorn, Charolais, Simmental and Limousin as also bring widely found. No mention of Speckle Park yet!

There appears to be a huge opportunity in the feedlotting space – the sector has the capability to feedlot more than 100,000 head at any one time, and the ability to finish 400,000 cattle on grain each year. Due to the sheer abundance of grain produced in the state and the location of the farms producing it, the cost of feedlot rations and the reasonable freight involved make a compelling case for finishing cattle this way.

S P E C K L E PA R K BREEDPL AN: FAQ W R I T T E N B Y C AT R I O N A M I L L E N IS MY herd too small to use BREEDPLAN? There is no minimum herd size required for a herd to be able to use BREEDPLAN. In general, as long as the herd has at least two calves that can be compared together, BREEDPLAN can analyse performance data from the herd. There are some management practices, such as short calving periods and running all calves together as a single mob, that can maximise the number of calves that can be analysed together and assist herds to use BREEDPLAN more effectively. More information is available in the Help Centre on the BREEDPLAN website here: https://breedplan.une.edu.au/media/41hlfn4h/ small-herds-obtaining-effective-results-from-breedplan. pdf. Alternatively, those with smaller herds who are considering joining BREEDPLAN can contact Catriona Millen, SBTS Technical Officer for Speckle Park, to talk through their individual situation.

How does BREEDPLAN handle ET calves?

BREEDPLAN does not compare the performance of ET calves with the performance of naturally conceived calves or AI calves. Furthermore, the performance of ET calves will only be compared if they are out of recipient dams of the same breed. This is because different recipient cow breeds will have varying maternal influence on calf performance. Therefore, the performance of an ET calf out of a Speckle Park recip will not be compared with the performance of an ET calf out of a Brahman recip. It is recommended that Speckle Park producers try to use recip dams of the same breed composition. Using ex-stud cows as recips is also encouraged, as these typically have their own performance information in the BREEDPLAN analysis.

When should I record mature cow weights?

BREEDPLAN will only analyse the weight of a mature cow if the cow has a calf with a valid 200 day weight recorded (i.e. calf aged between 80 – 330 days of age), and this

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200 day weight was recorded within two weeks of when the mature weight of the cow was taken. In practice, it is recommended that you collect the mature weight for a cow at the same time you are recording the 200 day weight of her calf. Further information is available in the Help Centre on the BREEDPLAN website here: https://breedplan.une.edu.au/recording-performance/ recording-mature-cow-weights/.

taken when the bulls are aged between 300 – 800 days; in practice, it is recommended that you collect scrotal circumference measurements at the same time as taking 400 day weights. More information, including a short video, is available in the Help Centre on the BREEDPLAN website here: https://breedplan.une.edu.au/recordingperformance/recording-scrotal-circumference-withvideo/

Does a vet need to record scrotal circumference on my bulls?

When do I record each trait?

No, you do not need a vet to record scrotal circumference measurements on your bulls. These can be collected by the Speckle Park breeder, using a scrotal circumference tape (available at rural stores). BREEDPLAN recommends the use of a self-tensioning tape, such as the Reliabull tape. Scrotal circumference measurements should be

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It is recommended that Speckle Park producers collect performance data in conjunction with routine management practices. To assist with this, BREEDPLAN has published a ‘Performance Recording Timeline’, which outlines which traits should be recorded at each life stage. For example, 200 day weights, docility scores and mature cow weights (on dams) can be collected when the

animals are in the yards for weaning. The Performance Recording Timeline is available in the Help Centre on the BREEDPLAN website here: https://breedplan.une.edu. au/getting-started/performance-recording-timeline/ Why is my bull’s raw phenotype different to its EBV? The raw performance data you collect on farm is a combination of the genetics of the animal and the environment that the animal is running in. BREEDPLAN EBVs only reflect the genetics of an animal (i.e. what is passes on to its progeny). The BREEDPLAN analysis adjusts raw phenotypes to account for things such as age at measure. Additionally, contemporary groups and genetic linkage are used to account for environmental effects.

A good example of the difference between raw phenotype and EBVs can be found by considering the performance of a twin calf (raised as a twin) and a single calf. If only the raw phenotype for weight is considered, you would expect that the single calf would be heavier as it has not had to compete with a twin. However, this does not mean that it necessarily has the better growth genetics. These sorts of environmental effects are what BREEDPLAN removes, leaving EBVs that give Speckle Park producers information about the animal’s value as a parent.

Should I record all calves or just the “best”?

Speckle Park breeders are encouraged to record performance information for all calves, and not just their “best” calves. As BREEDPLAN can only compare animals that are recorded, selectively recording the “best” can negatively impact upon the EBVs of these calves.

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N E X T GEN KN OWLED GE S HAR I N G WR IT TEN BY CH A R LI E S U TH ER L A N D WE SET out to ask Speckle Park International’s younger breeders about why they chose to breed Speckle Park, and as a young cattle breeder, what was the best advice they had been given about breeding Speckle Park.

Taleah Bell- Pemberton Speckle Park, Glenquarry, NSW

that I think they would thrive in all environments and conditions.

When breeding Speckle Park cattle they have their good traits and bad traits, just like any other breed. It’s about working out how to go around things and make sure you’re breeding the best quality animal that you can. For me, an animal has to have a good even structure, strong milk production, and good structured feet.

Originally, my parents got in to Speckle Park and I fell in love with them. I love the temperament and how different they are to any other breed. They are so unique with their colours and meat quality. They draw so much attention which is fantastic for the breed. I definitely wouldn’t want to breed anything else!

Matt Black and Mikayla Hamilton Sunnydale Speckle Park, Jiggi, NSW Being young cattle breeders in a breed that is growing extremely fast, we have been given a lot of advice. We are heavily involved with preparing clients’ cattle for shows. A simple bit of advice we were given was to take the show cattle to a few local shows before taking them to the Royal Show events.

This allows the cattle to adjust to the show atmosphere.

Also spending a lot of time with the stock at home.

Putting the radio on and ribbons up desensitises them.

We recommend that stud breeders breed the style of cattle they like and most importantly what you would be proud to offer for sale.

Troy Hepburn - Fox Tail Speckle Park, McKees Hill, NSW The best advice that I have been given about Speckle Park was when Jason Goodfellow from Notta Ranch, Canada, came to the Sydney Royal Show. He took time out of his day to show me a few things and he told me if you stick with this breed and produce the cattle you want to, you will go a long way. In 2019, we achieved Champion and Reserve Champion Speckle Park Female at the Brisbane Royal Show (EKKA). I was extremely impressed with how all the Speckle Park entries looked that day.

A number of years ago, I was starting to show steers and the Speckle Park breed had only been in Australia for six years at this point. I finally found some Speckle Park steers online and from that day on I haven't been able to get enough of them.

Mia Hourn - MH Speckle Park, Flinders, VIC For me, choosing Speckle Parks was an easy decision. The amount of growth and potential the breed has is unmatched compared to any other breed, making Speckle Parks an exciting and rewarding breed to be a part of. I’ve always been surrounded by people who encourage and believe in the youth of the industry. The simplest advice I’ve been given is to keep your head high, believe in yourself, and the results will show off all the hard work and dedication.

Claudia Humphries - Little Grove Speckle Park, Oberon NSW

Tayla Hansen - Limited Edition Speckle Park, New Zealand I believe that the Australian Speckle Park breeders have helped me the most in my journey with breeding and my stud.

The best advice I have received from the team I work with is to trust your gut when it comes to making decisions, and stand firm in what you believe in.

I got into the Speckle Park breed because it’s a new breed with amazing potential within the cattle industry.

They are also such a hardy, docile, and resilient breed

The reason I chose to breed Speckle Park was based on the fact that my family had a Speckle Park stud and I was working with the cattle every day. I loved the meat quality and quiet nature of the breed and the many other attributes that the breed has to offer. The best advice I have been given about Speckle Park was given by my father, Dale Humphries.

He told me to “breed Speckle Park like tissue boxes on legs – big and square and breed them to the type that you like - you know what works.” He really taught me to trust my instincts and find my own type.

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Charlie Sutherland - Deeargee Speckle Park, Uralla, NSW I first got into Speckle Park back in 2014. To me this breed has tremendous potential within the beef industry. This has been made evident through recent commercial Speckle Park-infused sales, the high demand for quality stud stock, and the exceptional carcase results being achieved. The best advice I have been given was to ‘repeat what works’ with regards to choosing matings - if there’s a mating that has perfectly matched, repeat it. Another small piece of advice I received was to do plenty of research when it comes to selecting AI sires and donor dams.

Emily Trainor - Gin Gin Speckle Park, Bambun, WA Best advice would have to be, start from the ground up. If they don’t have great feet, they won’t be able to walk a good body. Good structure is essential. I chose Speckle Park for their yield and capability to marble on grass without the need to be fed grain.

Sophie Worth - Wish List Speckle Park, Walcha, NSW The best advice I’ve been given is which sires and dams are best suited to a certain purpose.

This has helped me with the selection of animals and those bloodlines that I'm interested in. I love the amount of muscle that Speckle Park have and how the females remain powerful through the hindquarter unlike in some other breeds. Being involved in the meat and cattle industry for years, we saw how the breed quickly proved itself against other breeds - especially with the yielding percentage. The weight gain of Speckle Park was extremely impressive.

Our experience is that less money is spent on feed to get them up to market weight. They also have great temperaments, doing ability in all climates over Australia, as well as tremendous milk production and maternal instincts.

Matt Webber - Elevation Speckle Park, Denman, NSW The best advice I've been given was to build my herd from the ground up. I now have around 20 purebred females. In 2008, I wanted to use our Hereford base cows and produce a marketable F1 product. Speckle Park had great carcase quality appeal, phenotypically great head shape and length, and lastly the images of the donors in both Australia and Canada showed us their was plenty of maternal ability in the breed.

.

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U N D E R S TA N D I N G T H E B A S I C S O F A R T I F I C I A L I N S E M I N AT I O N W R I T T E N B Y C A I T L I N WA R N E R , A U S T R A L I A N P R E M I E R G E N E T I C S WHAT are the benefits of using Artificial Insemination within my Stud Program?

Artificial Insemination in a stud (and commercial) program has many benefits. Some of these include: More easily managed calving period. Animals that have been synchronised in an AI program who successfully conceive will calve within a short window. This is compared to animals who have conceived by natural service that will calve over a matter of weeks, depending on the joining period with the bull.

Little need to run a bull year-round. Smaller herds will benefit from AI as the producer may have limited resources to house a bull and keep him separated from females outside of the joining period.

Access to superior genetics. By utilising AI, stud breeders can access the very best genetics from around Australia and the world, thus allowing significant genetic gain

which may otherwise be out of reach.

How many straws do I need per cow to AI? For AI, only one straw of semen is required per cow.

Should the cow not conceive to the AI and the breeder wishes to try a second time, another straw will be required. Multiple straws are only required for embryo programs, and even then it is possible to use only one straw, but two or three is recommended.

Is there anything I should avoid doing with my cows in an AI program?

Low stress stock handling is a lot more important than many realise, with increased stress levels negatively impacting conception. Dramatic changes in nutrition, see below on rising plane of nutrition.

How soon after calving can I AI my cow?

It is recommended to wait at least 42 days (seven weeks)

after calving before beginning an AI program. Involution (healing and shrinking) of the uterus takes around 30 days to occur after a normal calving and longer with difficult calvings that require intervention. During this time it is unlikely a cow will fall pregnant.

How should I prepare my cow for AI? Females should be on a rising plane of nutrition leading up to, during and after an AI program. There should not be any dramatic changes in nutrition, but a gradual change over time. It should also be noted that animals can be too fat, which will impact success of a program.

What body condition a cow is in at calving will also significantly impact return to oestrus and conception at AI, with poorer cows taking much longer to return to oestrus than cows in good condition. A good rule of thumb is heifers should be a body condition score of 3.0 at AI, and cows a body condition score of 2.5. Neither should be fatter (ideally) than a BCS of 3.5.

Health treatments. Animals should be up to date with all vaccinations and health treatments prior to the start of any AI program to ensure optimal health and freedom of disease and parasites.

Is there a lot involved when undertaking a program?

Depending on the type of program you wish to use, or your AI tech recommends, there is varying amounts of

work involved. All synchronisation programs require the injection of synthetic hormones intramuscularly on at least 2 occasions, as well as insertion of progesterone releasing devices. Breeders should thoroughly understand each aspect of the program (times to needle, where to needle, how to insert CIDR/Cue-mate/Dib-H etc) and be ready to commit to it before commencement.

Half –hearted or relaxed approaches to programs will result in lower conception rates. Heat checking is also very important if not undertaking a FTAI program, so the producer should be available for such.

What is the likelihood of my cow taking to AI? If all things go to plan you should be able to expect at least 70% conception in cows, and 65% in heifers. Season, weather, health, nutrition, stress and semen quality will all impact your results.

Can I AI heifers? Will a heifer program impact future fertility?

Yes, heifers can be AI’d without impacting future fertility if done correctly. It is important to make sure heifers are old enough, heavy enough and having regular heats before undertaking an AI program. Trying to ‘force’ your young heifer to cycle before she is ready for joining with the stimulation from hormones may affect her fertility long term.

• • • • •

When should I put my back-up bull with the AI’d cows?

This will depend on how you want your calving period to look. A bull can be put in with cows ready for the next cycle, which will be anywhere from 18 to 24 days after AI. At calving this will mean that there may not be clear definition between the AI calves and natural service, as calves can be born up to 10 days early or 10 days late. If you are not concerned about the longer calving period and would prefer a definite gap between calving of AI and natural service, the bull can be put in for the second cycle (36 days after AI). My recommendation is 14 days post AI to introduce the back-up bull to AI’d females.

Can I AI my commercial cows?

Yes, commercial cows can be AI’d. Any breeding female is suitable for an AI program.

What is the best advice you would give to someone undertaking their first AI program?

The best advice I can give is to be prepared in advance and ask questions of your AI tech/vet so you thoroughly understand what is involved and how to do it. If you are undertaking all tasks yourself (except the actual insemination), know how to put the CIDR/Cue-Mate/ Dib-H in, where to administer the injections and why they are administered there, what a standing heat looks like. Knowing what to do and how to do it will take a lot of the nerves and confusion away.

Also ensure the semen is with the AI tech/vet BEFORE the program commences. There is nothing worse than having a group of females standing and not know if the semen has arrived.

KRS

KEIROSS

Speckle Park

Keiross Speckle Park (KRS) located north of Hay NSW in the heart of the Riverina is a rapidly growing Speckle Park Stud. We pride ourselves on our authen�c approach and hard work. Stud numbers are quickly expanding as a result of the technologies we embed into our breeding programs. We value high quality gene�cs and have purchased a range of elite animals and gene�cs from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Our vision is to breed high quality and resilient Speckle Park Ca�le that can withstand the diverse clima�c condi�ons across Australia. We pay par�cular a�en�on to each animal’s structure, temperament and gene�c makeup. We know each animal thoroughly and are consistently striving to improve our herd. We look forward to enjoying Speckle Park in the future!

Doug Comb 0427 931 314 KRS Speckle Park

T E A MWO R K D R I V ES N E W B R E E D R ES E A RC H W R I T T E N B Y PA U L G U Y THE SPECKLE Park International (SPI) Technical SubCommittee has now been in existence for 12 months and has been hard at work. We are very excited about the projects we have on the go. Our goal is to prove the value of the desirable traits our breed has to offer the beef industry through evidence-based research and data.

As Speckle Park breeders, we are believers and there is a lot of anecdotal evidence to support our position. The SPI Technical Sub-Committee is dedicated to converting this anecdotal evidence into cold hard facts.

Our first project on fat melting temperature and carcase performance against comparable Angus cattle was reported in the Queensland Country Life Carcase Merit Feature in August (see image), as well as the Spring SPI Newsletter. This trial revealed the tremendous marbling ability of Speckle Park-infused animals resulting in a significant price premium.

We have many other irons in the fire, with both shortand long-term projects underway and all with the aim of verifying our breed's qualities. Among the projects on the go are an investigation of developing breed guidelines on scrotal size and docility, establishing a

genetic screening test for gonadal hypoplasia, evaluating the value of the red gene in warmer climates, encouraging breeder uptake of Breedplan performance recording, capturing data of Speckle Park-infused cattle at feedlots and processors, and further examination of fat melting temperature of purebreds via tail biopsies.

There are also plans to evaluate the impact of the NT821F Myostatin gene on carcase yield and quality as well as track the performance of F1 versus F2 and F3 animals to see what might ultimately be the most effective use of Speckle Park in the beef industry.

We have a great team on the Technical Sub-Committee and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their ideas, energy and enthusiasm.

Thank You Tim Weller, Naomi Hobson, Matt Webber, Paul Meade, and our latest addition, Phil Collis of New Zealand.

Black Diamond Speckle Park

CUTTING EDGE SIRES STEEL FRONT RUNNER 5e

RIVER HILL 5C FARR-OUT 827F

BLACK DIAMOND MACHO MAN

Murray Van der Drift

murray.vanderdrift@outlook.com

0439 205 030

R E B R A N D I N G TO M O R R OW, TO DAY W R I T T E N B Y N AT H A N S H O OT E R , B R A N D H O O D M E D I A FUTURES are influenced by the past, and shaped in the present. Whether it is a person dreaming about their future, or an organisation planning their next steps, we have the ability to position ourselves for the future, today.

Since its introduction into Australia in 2007, the Speckle Park breed has gained favour and momentum across the country - but it started with an idea in 1953.

Immersing yourself in the history of a brand is the first step in rebranding its future. Through discovery and consultation, I was able to include elements of the past in our design for the future.

The existing logo has served the organisation well, and provided a firm foundation on which to build. The sans serif font in the new logo is a nod to the previous logo, which is also sans serif. The cobalt blue colour was selected because of the attributes it brings to mind; leadership, calm and depth. The steel grey brings a steady sense of authority, reliability and balance.

The ‘strikethrough’ element in the ‘A’ was chosen as a metaphor to demonstrate how this unique breed has cut through, and disrupted the market.

To ensure the brand can be leveraged across a variety of design contexts, I created a Speckled hide as a solo design element. To achieve this aesthetic, I used a photo of a real hide, and vectorised it and hand edited it within the shape of a globe as a reference to the organisation’s reach.

It has been a privilege to partner with your organisation today, to position this beautiful breed for tomorrow.

SPECKLE YOUR PADDOCKS WITH QUALITY Baw Baw Speckle Park

YEARS

E STA BL ISH E D 1 9 9 0

Thankyou

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of those that have been a part of our journey. Building Codiak Acres into a world renown source for top Speckle Park genetics was a massive group effort by some amazing people. THANK YOU!

CARLY MOYES: 0428 356 544 PHIL ORGILL: 0400 982 000 JAMES MOYES: 0437 742 473

Frozen genetics and breeding stock for sale

Visitors Welcome

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COMMERCIAL DEMAND S K Y- H I GH FO R S PEC KLES WR IT TEN BY A MY D I CK ENS

SPECKLE Park are regularly hitting the headlines of late, topping markets both online and at the saleyards.

Livestock agents are now fielding increasing enquiry from clients wanting Speckle Park, and they tip a very bright future for the breed.

At Tamworth in North West NSW, nearly three years of savage drought has producers looking for a "dualpurpose" breed of cattle that suits more than three markets, according to Nutrien Livestock agent, Joel Fleming.

"Speckle Park suit everything, from a vealer market to a weaner market to a domestic kill to a 100-day grain fed bullock, and there are not a lot of breeds that can put their name to that," he said. "With the drought there are a lot of people looking for a more versatile, dual-purpose animal that can be finished or grown out, because our seasons are so variable. You've got to have something that will suit three-plus markets these days.

ABOVE: Dale and Robyn Scott, Gippsland, VIC, with their livestock agent, Alex Dixon (left), Elders Korumburra, VIC. Photo courtesy of: Alex Dixon.

BELOW: Nutrien Livestock agent, Joel Fleming, Tamworth, NSW. Photo: Tamworth Livestock Selling Agents Association.

"We’re getting more and more demand for the females through either saleyards or online, yet the steers still seem to be making the same premium as an Angus steer is. I think that’s the backgrounders and traders wanting the versatility in the animal, which is something Speckle Park offers ... I see a massive future for the breed."

Joel set a new record at the Tamworth Special Store Cattle Sale on November 27, selling F1 Speckle Park cows, with their second calf at foot, for $4050/unit, on account of Mitch and Kayla Kelaher, Somerton, NSW. "It wouldn't have mattered what colour they were, they were exceptional cattle," he said. "They were big-bodied cows that the client bought as young heifers. They grew out well above all of our expectations, given the drought."

Joel said in the past 12 months, Speckle Park cattle had become more accepted generally. "They had to prove themselves to be accepted, and they have done that," he said. "They've had good carcase traits and have suited a lot of markets, from domestic through to export markets. They're not just an early-maturing animal they will keep going through to export weights and that is a huge advantage."

Down in Victoria's South Gippsland region, Elders Korumburra livestock agent, Alex Dixon, set a national record for commercial cows and calves for his clients, Dale and Robyn Scott, on October 30. The Scott family sold 45 Speckle Park cows and calves to a top of $5580/

unit, and average of $4034. "The result was excellent," Alex said. "It was at record levels and it was unbelievable, making much higher than expectations. The cattle were one consistent line in type and age group. Even though they were only commercial-bred, they carried strong traits of the Speckle Park breed, hence why they made the money they did."

Alex said in his region, Speckle Park were becoming more popular. "Their temperaments seem to be docile and there are a lot of poeple out there who want to do something a little bit different from the more common breeds," he said. "The breed is definitely growing in popularity. We're half beef, half dairy in our region and a lot of dairy farmers are opting to go for a joining to Speckle Park after their dairy AI programs, over any other breed.

It will take several years yet, however I can see the breed will get right up there - in terms of popularity - as Angus and Hereford, providing the end of the supply chain, the processors, continue to get good results with the breed."

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PREMIER 101Y LOGIC L11

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PREMIER 300X LADY L2

PREMIER 60A NICE LADY N12

A

t Premier, we believe good bulls are simply the by-product

of an outstanding cowherd. So it’s for that reason we put such high importance on the cows that have been our foundation, the cows that have produced the sires we use and most importantly the females that are the Premier cowherd.

PREMIER E25 MELISA K249

Derek & Catherine Hayward P: 0272 266686 E: derek.premier@farmside.co.nz Follow us on Facebook & Instagram

VA L U E I N W H O L E - H E R D RECORDING W R I T T E N B Y S O U T H E R N B E E F T E C H N O LO GY S E R V I C ES ( S B T S ) THE SAYING “You only get out of something what you put into it” is particularly true of performance recording for genetic evaluation, in terms of both the volume and quality of data recorded.

animals’ in a contemporary group versus submitting information for all animals in the contemporary group (Table 1). The problem caused by selective performance recorded is demonstrated if we consider animal A7.

Some breeders may choose to performance record only their ‘best animals’ which they plan to select as future sires or dams, or with the aim of bringing up the average EBVs of the herd. But only recording your ‘best’ calves won’t necessarily result in ‘better’ EBVs.

In Scenario 1, all ten calves in the contemporary group have a 200 day weight recorded and A7 is 4kg heavier than the average of the group (237kg vs 233kg). This is an accurate reflection of how this animal has performed compared to its peers.

Breeders should be aware that significant problems can arise from choosing to only performance record a subset of animals from a contemporary group. If performance records are provided for a subset of a calf drop, it provides BREEDPLAN with an inaccurate picture of the average performance of the animals in that contemporary group which can result in EBVs which are biased.

In Scenario 2 the weights from the lightest 4 calves have not been recorded with BREEDPLAN and the contemporary group average is now 252kg. This means that A7 is now 15kg lighter than the average of the group

One of the basic mechanisms of the BREEDPLAN analysis is the comparison of animals within contemporary groups, i.e. animals who have had a similar opportunity to perform.

In a situation where only a proportion of a contemporary group has been recorded, the performance information for an animal will only be compared with the “selection” that has been recorded. If this “selection” is not an accurate reflection of the entire contemporary group, then BREEDPLAN cannot make fair comparisons and the EBVs produced may be biased.

SELECTIVE PERFORMANCE RECORDING Take for example a situation where a producer has only submitted performance information for the ‘best

Image credit: Kimberly Carey

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Image credit: Emily Trainor

(237kg vs 252kg). As BREEDPLAN can only use what information has been recorded, the subsequent EBVs that are calculated from this performance will also be biased. Comparing the two scenarios, A7 has gone from performing better than average to well below average as a result of selective recording, and this would be evident in the resulting EBVs. Similarly traits such as Calving Ease and Days to Calving, which rely upon variation within the trait, will be affected by selective recording. For instance, only recording Days to Calving information for those heifers which calve or are added to inventory does not accurately reflect the female fertility of a herd. The heifers (or cows) that do not calve provide as much information to the analysis as those that do.

Selective recording can also influence EBV calculation by reducing the number of animals represented in a contemporary group.

Where only a small number of animals are represented in a contemporary group, there are fewer animals to which an individual’s performance can be compared, and that performance cannot be used ‘effectively’ by BREEDPLAN. Selective recording may result in an increased incidence of small contemporary groups, rendering what performance information that is submitted ineffective.

WHOLE HERD RECORDING Wherever possible seedstock herds should adopt a whole herd recording strategy. This involves recording all calves with the relevant breed society (dead or alive) and recording performance for all animals in the contemporary group with BREEDPLAN. Because BREEDPLAN uses not only individual performance in the calculation of EBVs, but also the performance of all known relatives, it is also recommended that performance be recorded on all available animals i.e. steers, heifers and bulls as opposed to just performance recording bulls.

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T I PS FO R EM B RYO FLUS H I N G AND TR ANSFER SUCCESS S TO R Y/ I M A G ES B Y C H A R L I E S U T H E R L A N D WE ASKED renowned embryo transfer veterinarian, Dr Udo Mayne, EmbryoLife, to provide some tips for success with embryo transfer (ET) programs. Embryo flushing and transfer is carried out by a large proportion of Speckle Park stud breeders, growing herds in both quantity and quality.

Embryo transfer (ET) is widely used among Speckle Park stud breeders as a means to grow their studs with both quantity and quality. Charlie Sutherland asked renowned embryo transfer veterinarian, Dr Udo Mahne, Embryo Life, to share his tips for success with ET. How would an embryo transfer program benefit my stud program?

You can potentially increase the reproductive rate of a good cow by making more than one calf per year out of her. You could keep her embryos frozen as an insurance policy in case she dies or gets injured. Multiple embryo sibling calves make it possible to sell your best and capitalise on good heifers but still be able to keep some of them to grow your herd. You can potentially use an expensive bull semen straw to generate multiple calves.

How many semen straws do I need per donor cow?

Two Straws, 12 hours apart, are the standard number of straws used to cover a potential longer ovulation period when cows are super-ovulating multiple egg cells. If semen is of very good quality, a single straw, 12 hours after standing heat can be considered but this requires heat observation and a technician that is flexible and can come at that exact time.

Will the flush program impact the long-term fertility of my cow? How many times can I flush my donor cow?

No it will not impact her fertility nor will it influence her reproductive life span, as long as you use an experienced

embryo technician and don’t flush the cow too many times before putting her to the bull to get back in calf.

General rule of thumb is: flush twice only for minimum disturbance and inter-calving delay. A third flush could be considered if the technician is happy with the type of ovary and the condition of the cow. Fat cows struggle to fall pregnant.

How soon after calving can I flush my donor?

This depends on uterine health, size, parity, cow condition and nutrition. Donor cows must be at least 45 days past calving at the start of the program, which means they will be 65+ days post calving when flushed.

I’m unsure on what vitamin injections I should give my donor cow? Can you suggest any?

Minerals and vitamins are essential to generate healthy and strong egg cells. Selenium is a “must supplement” in almost all Australian cattle country where the rainfall is over 450mm per year.

Vitamin A, D&E is another important supplement to give.

What is the average number of embryos a donor can produce?

The Speckle Park average is probably near 6-7 viable embryos per cow flushed. Speckle Park donors however vary tremendously on how many viable embryos they give. Some cows don’t give any embryos and other Speckle Park cows can give up to 42 usable embryos.

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Cows that give few embryos tend to continue with below average numbers and cows that flush well also continue that above average trend.

Success rate of ET?

Should I be supplement feeding my donor?

Stock and pasture management has the biggest impact on conception rates. This includes vaccinations and disease control. Pestivirus, IBR virus and vibriosis infections after transfer can lead to complete failures or massive early pregnancy losses. While doing the exact same thing, I have seen differences from 30% up to 100% pregnancy rates. The average pregnancy rate on an uneventful program should be around 70% if the recipient nutrition was well managed.

Yes. It is highly recommended to get the donor cows on a positive energy rising plane of nutrition.

Is there much difference between Grade 1 and 2 embryos?

Is pasture enough?

10-15% is the general rule of thumb.

It could be if it contains multiple grass species and they have reached maturity. Lush green grass has inconsistencies and potential imbalances. It mostly isn’t a balanced healthy diet. Too much moisture, high protein and too little energy is a common problem with young and lush green pasture. Supplementing with good quality hay is always good for rumen health.

What advice would you give to someone who is undertaking their first ET program?

Is there much involved with preparing donor cows to flush?

There are a lot of times the cows have to come into the yards. Multiple injections (14) over a three-week period plus doing two Inseminations to fertilise the eggs.

What difference does it make putting fresh embryos in versus frozen embryos?

There could be no difference. Statistically, there could be a 10-15% better conception rate with fresh embryos.

Do proper research, and talk to other farmers that are doing embryo programs.

Find out what are the Do’s and Don’ts . There are a lot of potential potholes that need filling or avoiding.

U N D E R S TA N D I N G MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA WR IT TEN BY PO PPY MCBA I N I HATE to be the one to break it to you, but chances are that you have already been exposed to marketing. In all likelihood, you’ve also participated in marketing of some kind too. In a society where the exchange of currency is fundamental to our existence, marketing exists also.

After all, where consumers have choice about how to spend their money in order to fill their wants and needs, positioning your product, company or brand to be the one to fill that need and take that money.

Marketing is a very well-used term because there are just so many different components to it. Broadly, we can think about marketing as the process of how a business promotes its features or benefits to its customers in order to generate sales.

Underneath marketing come a suite of other terms, including public relations, advertising and communications. These may often (incorrectly) be used interchangeably with marketing, but understanding the differences between these fields is key to unlocking their potential.

Communications can be thought of as the vehicle. It’s the moving piece, the part you package up the marketing strategy into, drive it out into the world. Emails, speeches, social media posts, the sideways glance you give your husband when the kids are playing up and it's time to leave the party – these are the vessels into which we place our messages.

Public relations is about conduct and perception. It’s the people we invite to our parties, what they say to our faces and what they say about us when we’re not in the room.

It’s the protests we’re seen attending, the charities we lend our support to, the language we use to respond to our harshest critics and the times we choose to be silent instead.

Advertising, a somewhat less abstract topic, is messaging which has been paid for and intentionally placed somewhere with the intention of influencing the way people think or feel about the product.

Fitting all of these pieces together in the form of a marketing strategy is key to building a strong company, brand and product. The most common question from new businesses and companies, other than the dreaded “Should I be on Facebook?”, is “Where do I start?”. Here is a brief overview of one way to put a marketing strategy:

First develop: • A mission statement: why is your business here? What is the purpose of your business? Who are we?

• Your business’ vision for itself and the world: what is your business going to do, and how will it change the state of the world as it stands currently? Where are we going?

• Long, medium and short term goals Then do some hard thinking, talk to your business partners and others in your industry and outside it. Ask yourself the following questions and write down your answers: • Who is my audience?

• What’s important to them?

• What are their challenges?

Who are my customers? What do they want? Who are they currently getting that from, and why have they chosen that business?

Congratulations, you’ve now laid your foundations. The next part is where most people start, and you’ll see why it’s helpful to have the bigger picture sorted out before you get into the nitty gritty.

Now comes the branding. What is your business’ voice?

What does it sound like when your business speaks?

What does your business look like, on paper, on a hat, on a shirt, in a press release? These are called tone of voice, style guide, logo, icons, catch phrase/slogans and key messages. What should your business be called?

Make sure you’re deliberate in your choices here and take everything you’ve learned into consideration.

Developing these can be done on the fly, but it’s much better to have at least something written down so you

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After the branding comes all the action: develop your communication pathways. These are the platforms you use to send out your messages, typically things like ads in papers or on TV, ordering your logo on embroidered hats and farm shirts and sending them out to your friends, family and team members and of course, finally, setting up your social media channels. This is the point where a lot of new businesses think they should be starting, with setting up their very own Facebook page. They often run into trouble, confused about what they should be posting, and how much, and unintentionally end up sending out mixed and inconsistent messages, which don’t really work toward any specific goal and certainly aren’t helping their customers and audience understand what they’re offering and why they should spend their money with that business. Because you’ve done all the work prior, you’ll know what the Facebook page needs to look like and what the posts should sound like in order to best reflect you and your business and start working towards your goals.

In the agriculture industry, much of the marketing activity happens within the industry itself. That is, the people with the product to sell, which in our case is live beef animals, are talking directly to the people with the reason and money to buy, who are other beef farmers, stock agents, feedlotters and processors and sometimes butchers. With the exception of butchers, these businesses in the position to directly purchase your product are all classed as agricultural businesses like yours. It’s just as important to understand who your customer isn’t. In our case, the customer is not the suburban father buying meat for the BBQ at the supermarket, even though the meat he’s buying may well be from animals we bred and fed. Does it matter what the suburban father thinks of you and your operation?

Absolutely. He needs to feel comfortable with the product he’s buying, and supermarkets use customer purchasing data to shape their supply chains. But should you focus your energies onto him? Should you spend your money trying to reach him? No. Expanding the size of the Speckle Park herd in Australia and New Zealand comes down to converting beef farmers and users of bull semen who are currently involved in other breeds. Getting to the bottom of why they chose the breed they’re with currently using is key to changing their purchasing choices. This understanding enables us to position our marketing messages to be highly

appealing to these potential customers. The results we are seeing with Speckle Park in commercial settings, in carcase competitions, in royal shows, in public auctions and private sales paint a picture of a breed rapidly gaining momentum and the rest of the industry is certainly beginning to sit up and listen. The more targeted, powerful messaging from individual businesses within the breed, the wider and deeper our net will cast. The more consistent the messages are from these individual breeders, the more defined industry opinion on the breed will be.

Image credit: pexels.com

can make sure all the pieces fit together. If you have a solid understanding of who you are as a business, who your audience and your customers are and why they would want to buy your product, you’re putting yourself in a really powerful position to develop a brand which is appealing to the right people, which can save a lot of heartache down the track.

Things have changed in the marketing landscape in agriculture. Traditionally, seedstock producers have invited the public along to their sales, and commercial producers have sent their cattle off to the yards to be sold. Stock agents act on behalf of both the vendors and purchasers, with loyalties to certain branches or companies running generations-long. Now, rather than relying on physically inspecting animals, or having an agent give you his or her opinion of the animals over the phone, the digital revolution has drastically broadened our horizons. AuctionsPlus and Elite Livestock Auctions run real-time livestream events, where bidders in Ireland can buy genetics in Australia without anyone leaving their armchairs. For a smaller but rapidly growing cattle breed like Speckle Park, this disruption could not have happened at a better time. Even though herd numbers are dwarfed by some of the dominant breeds, the digital revolution has given potential customers unprecedented accessibility to cattle for viewing and sale, regardless of whether Speckle Park cattle are actually present at their local saleyards yet. This is all the more reason for Speckle Park breeders and producers to lean into digital marketing and utilize the newest tools at our disposal – they are levelling the playing field and giving us an enormous leg up over comfortable traditions.

The future for Speckle Park cattle in Australia and New Zealand is bright, so buckle up, put on your marketing caps, turn your modems on, get your cameras out and keep putting your messages out there. The next 5 years are going to be an exciting ride for the breed we love.

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SEMEN DIRECTORY The AI Sires listed in this Semen Directory all feature on the SPI Animal Register’s Semen Catalogue, with some including images. Visit www.specklepark.org. All sires have a SPI AI Sire Permit in place.

This stud offers embryos for sale

NT821F Myostatin gene free NT821C Myostatin gene carrier

RGF Red gene free RGC Red gene carrier

PcPc Homozygous polled HPc Horn gene carrier

Black Diamond Speckle Parks (BDS), Murray Van der Drift, Macorna, VIC. P: +61 439 205 030, murray.vanderdrift@outlook.com Black Diamond Marcho Man (BDS M34). DOB: 11/6/2016. White. Sire: Waratah Just Chillin J154 (LST J154). Dam: Six Star 68L Kara E220 (SPC E220). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$132/straw. Commercial: AUD$44/straw. AUS/NZ/CAN/US/EU Vallelonga K47 (CMV K47). DOB: 1/7/2014. White. Sire: Almarlea 68G Lacerta F156 (ASP F156). Dam: Vallelonga 26T Kara 2 (CMV F10). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$88/straw. Commercial: AUD$33/straw. AUS only Mt Eccles Meteorite (SOS K21). DOB: 5/9/2014. Speckled. Sire: Codiak GNK 24X (GNK 24X). Dam: Almarlea 25S Pho-Finish E9 (ASP E9). NT821F. Stud: AUD$55/straw. Commercial: AUD$27.50/straw. AUS only Dingo Creek Knockout (DCS K08). DOB: 3/6/2014. Speckled. Sire: Almarlea E6 Kingsley (ASP H60). Dam: Dingo Creek Finesse (DCS F02). NT821C. Stud: AUD$110/straw. Commercial: AUD$44/straw. AUS only Waratah Magic M28 (LST M28). DOB: 23/7/2016. White. Sire: P.A.R. Throttle 66T (PAR 66T). Dam: Raina of P.A.R. 54U (RAC 54U). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$77/straw. Commercial: AUD$38.50/straw. AUS only Blueridge Speckle Park (BLU), Nettie McGrath, Gundowring, VIC, AUS. P: +61 401 733 230, www.blueridgespecklepark.com.au Minnamurra Leander L81 (MPC L81). DOB: 25/7/2015. White. Sire: Six Star 82U Royal Flesh 101Y (SIX 101Y). Dam: Minnamurra 60W Nice Lady G8 (MPC G8). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US/EU Minnamurra Paxton P115 (MPC P115). DOB: 13/3/2018. White. Sire: Minnamurra Jaguar J156 (MPC J156). Dam: Minnamurra 6Z Tori L122 (MPC L122). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US/South America Blue Sky Speckle Park (SGN), Stephanie Niven, Blenheim, New Zealand. P: +64 212 591 799, nivs@ruralinzone.net Blue Sky Hemi (SGN N7). DOB: 24/11/2017. Speckled. Sire: Mainstream Eldorado E11 (MSM E11). Dam: SPKNZ SPN F13 (SPN F13). NT821F, RGF, HPc. Stud: NZD$95/straw. Commercial: NZD$55/straw. AUS/NZ Dorroughby Speckle Park (DPS), Dean Missingham, Westbrook, QLD, AUS. P: +61 438 831 902, deanmissingham@hotmail.com Dorroughby First Class (DPS Q11). DOB: 24/3/2019. White. Sire: A&W 15R (WAG 15R). Dam: AAA Mercedes (AAA J2).

NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$77/straw. Commercial: AUD$22/straw. AUS only Great Marlow Speckle Park (GR8), James Shipman, Great Marlow, NSW, Australia. P: +61 414 314 678. Find us on Facebook Minnamurra Pogoda P236 (MPC P236). DOB: 17/9/2018. White. Sire: Redneck JSF Whiskey 4B (SDS 4B). Dam: Minnamurra 300X Unique J83 (MPC J83). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$100/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS only Greenvale Speckle Park (GRN), Nathan & Aimee Steel, Gore, New Zealand. P: +64 273 471 972. thesteels@outlook.co.nz Maungahina Night Out (MAU N307). DOB: 4/10/2017. Speckled. Sire: Maungahina Legacy (MAU L260). Dam: SPKNZ H50 (SPN H50). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. NZ only GRN P6 (GRN P6). DOB: 11/9/2018. White. Sire: Mainstream Eldorado E11 (MSM E11). Dam: SPKNZ SPN H14 (SPN H14).

NT821C, RGF, HPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. NZ only JAD Speckle Park (JAD), Justin & Amy Dickens, Yeoval, NSW, Australia. P: +61 427 464 333, jadspecklepark.com.au Minnamurra Montezuma M25 (MPC M25). DOB: 5/9/2016. Leopard. Sire: Redneck JSF Whiskey 4B (SDS 4B). Dam: Minnamurra 60W Nice Lady G8. NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$143/straw. Commercial: AUD$38.50. AUS/NZ/CAN/US innamurra Marlin M4 (MPC M4). DOB: 3/9/2016. Speckled. Sire: Redneck JSF Whiskey 4B (SDS 4B). Dam: Six Star 13U M Penelope G29 (SPC G29). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$143/straw. Commercial: AUD$38.50/straw. AUS/NZ/CAN/US Codiak Spencer GNK 52B (GNK 52B). DOB: 30/5/2014. Leopard. Sire: Codiak Oscar GNK 8S (GNK 8S). Dam: Codiak Willa GNK 13W (GNK 13W). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$165/straw. Commercial: AUD$38.50/straw. AUS only M & G Speckle Park (111), Robinson family, Nimmitabel, NSW, AUS. P: +61 458 081 239, graememaryanne@bigpond.com M & G Impact (111 M1). DOB: 27/10/2016. Speckled. Sire: Wattle Grove Merlin F67 (WGS F67). Dam: M & G Patches (111 J1).

NT821F, RGF, HPc. Stud: AUD$33/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS only Disclaimer: Speckle Park International accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided herein. Pricing includes GST. PAG E 6 4

Panorama Farms Speckle Park (PFS), Narrabri, NSW, Australia. P: +61 488 423 698, www.panoramafarmsspecklepark.com.au Notta 151A Cause N Effect 309C (JMG 309C). DOB: 21/3/2015. Speckled. Sire: Notta 101Y Black Cap 151A (JMG 151A0. Dam: Notta 300X Theta 11A (JMG 11A). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US Pine Hill Speckle Park (PHL), Martyn & Sarah Forsyth, Clevedon, NZ. P: +64 211 858 222, www.pinehillspecklepark.co.nz Pine Hill 101Y Palace (PHL P3). DOB: 25/8/2018. White. Sire: Six Star 82U Royal Flesh 101Y (SIX 101Y). Dam: SPKNZ E34 (SPN E34). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. NZ only Maungahina Lockout (MAU L284). DOB: 5/9/2015. Speckled. Sire: Six Star 82U Royal Flesh 101Y (SIX 101Y). Dam: SPKNZ H50 (SPN H50). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. NZ only Pine Hill E11 Pinstripe (PHL P7). DOB: 21/9/2018. Leopard. Sire: Mainstream Eldorado E11 (MSM E11). Dam: SPKNZ H20 (SPN H20). NT821F, RGF, HPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. NZ/AUS Pinnacle Park Speckles (PPS), Tania Paget, The Summit, QLD, Australia. P: +61 429 802 153, pinnaclepark@bigpond.com Pinnacle Park Shooting Star (PPS P23). DOB: 27/12/2018. Speckled. Sire: Mt Eccles Meteorite (SOS K21). Dam: INK Specks Stardust L002 (INK L002). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$88/straw. Commercial: AUD$33/straw. AUS only Mt Eccles Led Zeppelin P36 (SOS P36). DOB: 25/8/2018. White. Sire: Caja Zeppelin 1B (CAJA 1B). Dam: White Acres Katie (WHT K11). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$137.50/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US Rose Hill Speckle Park (ANP), Alex Pateman & Natalie Merz, Rylstone, NSW, AUS. P: +61 428 791 972, rosehillspecklepark.com Rose Hill Montagu (ANP M39). DOB: 1/12/2016. Speckled. Sire: Notta Romeo 64R (JMG 64R). Dam: Waratah Spanish Angel F12 (LST F12). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$110/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US Underhill All Out 1D (US 1D). DOB: 8/2/2016. Speckled. Sire: River Hill 50U All In 60A (BED 60A). Dam: Spots n Sprouts 10S (JKH 10S). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$132/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US P.A.R MX El Guapo 103E (RMS 103E). DOB: 14/2/2017. Leopard. Sire: P.A.R. Casanova 55C (PAR 55C). Dam: P.A.R. High Maintenance of MX 103Z (RMS 103Z). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$132/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US P.A.R. MX Dirty Deeds 43D (RMS 43D). DOB: 20/3/2016. Speckled. Sire: Codiak GNK 24X (GNK 24X). Dam: Melissa of P.A.R. 57U (PAR 57U). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$132/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US Semex Pty Ltd (SMX), Melton, VIC, Australia. P: +61 3 9743 0344, semex@semex.com.au Johner Stock Farm Trade Secret (JSF 11A). DOB: 9/3/2013. White. Sire: Semex Alliance Yogi Goes Redneck (SDS 7Y). Dam: Monnery River 7W (JFN 7W). Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US/EU Andchris Extreme 23E (ACM 23E). DOB: 24/2/2017. Leopard. Sire: Upto Specs Ulysses 25U (MBG 25U). Dam: Second Chance Zoey 3Z (SCSP 3Z). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US/EU Dangit Matters 22D (MTRS 22D). DOB: 14/3/2016. White. Sire: Codiak Layne GNK 56A. Dam: The Jewel Matters 1A (MTRS 1A). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS/NZ/CAN/US/EU South Pine Speckle Park (SPF), Lachlan Woodcock, South Riana, TAS, AUS. P: +61 448 301 245, info@southpinefarm.com.au Glengarry Sky Falcon (GSP Q1). DOB: 28/2/2019. Speckled. Sire: SPKNZ Falcon (SPN F20). Dam: Glengarry Lacerta Luo (GSP K4). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: $POA. Commercial: $POA. AUS only Wanda Vale Pastoral (WVP), Nathan Coates, Hargraves, NSW, Australia. P: +61 410 312 100, nathan@coatescivil.com.au Wattle Grove Drive Shaft (WGS M50). DOB: 11/4/2016. White. Sire: River Hill 60W Line Drive 54Z (BED 54Z). Dam: Codiak Utah 23U (GNK 23U). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$165/straw. Commercial: $POA. AUS only Wattle Grove Speckle Park (WGS), Humphries family, Oberon, NSW. P: +61 421 524 856, info@wattlegrovespecklepark.com.au Wattle Grove Smoke and Mirrors L275 (WGS L275). DOB: 8/9/2015. Leopard. Sire: Codiak Putnam GNK 61Y (GNK 61Y).

Dam: Codiak Good Golly GNK 11U (GNK 11U). Stud: AUD$220/straw. Commercial: AUD$44/straw. AUS/NZ/CAN/US Wattle Grove Wizard N68 (WGS N68). DOB: 21/4/2017. White. Sire: Wattle Grove Merlin F67 (WGS F67). Dam: Kamarah Lady Luve (EBH L49). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$165/straw. Commercial: AUD$44/straw. AUS/NZ Wattle Grove Player P201 (WGS P201). DOB: 21/5/2018. White. Sire: Avery Creek Banjo 01B (LMT 01B). Dam: Wattle Grove E41 Stardust J33 (WGS J33). NT821F, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$165/straw. Commercial: AUD$44/straw. AUS only World Wide Sires Australia, Tim Weller, Shepparton, VIC, Australia. P: +61 427 465 490, tweller@wwsaustralia.com Riverina Sonar J301 (RIV J301). DOB: 5/9/2013. White. Sire: Spots n Sprouts Stands Alone (JKH 300X). Dam: Six Star 26T Amy's Girl F158 (SPC F158). NT821C, RGF, PcPc. Stud: AUD$40/straw. Commercial: AUD$16/straw. AUS only

Disclaimer: Speckle Park International accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided herein. Pricing includes GST. PAG E 6 5

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