In the late 1800s mum’s family migrated to South Australia from Lincolnshire in England and settled on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Over the next generations they moved into the Mid North and finally to the Southern Grampians of Western Victoria. The family farm was sold in the 1980s and a generation of farming nearly missed until we purchased a small block of land in the Adelaide Hills with a plan to grow premium wine grapes and breed premium beef cattle.
To utilise the land not suited to viticulture we sought to run a breed of cattle that were compact, easy calving and sound on their feet.
During our initial research we found Speckle Park cattle to have excellent carcass traits compared to other British and European breeds with the carcass quality and marbling equivalent to a Wagyu cross and better than Angus.
Speckle Park cattle calve easily, are quiet and easy to handle and their moderate frame and gentle nature reduces soil compaction and erosion, especially on the steep slopes allowing us to graze the vineyard rows during winter with minimal wear on infrastructure.
Speckle Park cattle are also renowned for their feed efficiency and early maturation, growing well on paddock grasses alone.
Add this to their survivability in extreme climates and ability to thrive in drought while still producing quality calves and carcasses makes them extremely appealing to both small and large producers as a stand alone breed or by adding Speckle Park genetics to an existing herd and taking advantage of F1 hybrid vigour.
Their gentle nature, easy calving and moderate frame also make Speckle Park cattle perfect for small “farm gate” and “paddock to plate” enterprises and also hobby farmers.
Being from scientific backgrounds we have relished the transition to breeding stud cattle and it has been a remarkable and fascinating journey. We’re constantly working to improve our core female herd and aim to tailor Speckle Park bulls to the needs of the individual stud breeder, commercial producer or hobby farmer using some of the finest genetic material currently sourced from Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
