WHAT IS A SPECKLE PARK?

Speckle Park are a carcass orientated, yet maternal, pure breed of beef cattle. They originate from Canada and are Polled and British Bred. Speckle Parks are moderate sized and mature cows weigh between 600 to 850kgs and mature bulls over 1000kgs. The calves average 30 to 40kgs at birth and wean at around 230 to over 370kgs.

The breed reach puberty early and females cycle early and breed easily, the cows are also very maternal with good udders. The bulls sexually mature at about 12 months and make good yearling breeders. Speckle Park rarely experience difficulty birthing as the small front shoulders of the newborn calf make for easy calving. The calves are very vigorous at birth and most newborns are up and suckling in minutes.

Speckle Parks are very docile animals and their gentle disposition makes them a pleasure to work with.

Commercial breeders are increasingly finding Speckle bulls a wise choice for breeding heifers, due to the ease of calving and the increased quality of the carcass. The breed has high marbling, yet a perfect fat covering, with consistently high-quality and tender meat. Speckle Park also have the unique ability of achieving a AAA grade carcass without the excess outer fat cover.

Speckle Park Traits

• Moderately sized carcasses

• Large REA (rib eye area) relative to carcass size o Consistently marbled (IMF)

• Ideal minimum fat cover

• These traits appear in the first cross

• Speckle Park are ideal for the boxed meat market

The 2015 Grand Champion carcass in the Quality Beef Competition at the Calgary Stampede was again a Speckle Park influenced steer. Speckle Park has now won the competition seven times and placed second four times in the fifteen years they have competed.

Six Year Summary:
The following summary and statistics are based on pure Speckle Park and Speckle Park influenced steers and heifers entered in the Quality Beef Competition at the Calgary Stampede over six years — 2015 to 2010. 

A total of 76 Speckle Park carcasses have been entered in the competition over the six years. Based on all of the 76 carcasses Speckle Park posted the following results:

• 75% graded AAA. Canada's AAA is USDA Choice. In six years of competition, only five carcasses graded prime — two were Speckle Park.

• 92.8 sq.cm. average REA from an average carcass weight of 747 lbs. 11 mm. average fat cover.

• 42% (25/60) of the top ten from each of the six years were Speckle Park.

Results for Quality Beef Carcass Competition 2015

REA of between 85 and 95 sq.cm. receives maximum points. Measurements above or below this range are penalized. Four SP were penalized for REA larger than the ideal. ** The ideal carcass weight is between 700 and 800 pounds. Above or below is penalized.