5 Reasons

5 Reasons to Raise Speckle Park

#1 Consistently high quaility carcass

"In 35 years experience in the meat business, I have never butchered animals with such consistency and quality grades," says Martin Rijavec, former owner/ operator of Vermilion Packers Ltd., Vermilion, AB

Butchers and meat graders are very impressed with the consistently high quality of the Speckle Park carcass. It isn't uncommon to get an exceptionally good carcass from any breed, but what is impressive is when the carcass from a particular breed is consistently good. That is the case with the Speckle Park. Another impressive fact about the Speckle park is their unique ability of being able to acheive a AAA carcass without excess outer fat cover. Most breeds are able at acheive AAA carcass but often at the expense of excess outer fat. Speckle Park can acheive a AAA carcass with minimal fat cover, thus grading YG1-AAA.

#2 Calving Ease and Good Maternal Instinct

Speckle Park rarely experience difficulty calving. The small front shoulders of the newborn calf make calving ease. The calves come into the world at approximately 75 lbs. and are very vigorous at birth. Most newborns are up and sucking in minutes.

A cattlemen saves himself a great deal of time and expense by breeding cattle that can calve unassisted. It isn't uncommon in today's society to see the wife caring for the catle while the husband works off the farm. Speckle Park are a wise choice for farmers in this situation. The calves weigh a fraction of the weight of those of the exotic breeds and most of the cows, even the heifers, calve unassisted.

Although Speckle Park are a docile breed the cows are very protective when it comes to caring for their young. The females have good udders, supply their young with ample milk.

Commercial breeders are finding Speckle Park bulls a wise choice for breeding heifers. They not only decrease the size of the newborn calf and increase calving ease but also increase the quality of the resulting carcass.

#3 Feed Efficiency

Cattlemen feeding Speckle Park for the first time are usually very impressed with the feed efficiency of the breed. By many, they are reffered to as 'easy keepers'. Unfortunately very little testing has been done to actually give accurate stat of feed efficiency of the breed.The figures that have been accumilated are a result of testing very small numbers of animals. However, those stasts that have been obtained indicate Speckle Park to be average when it come to feed efficiency compared to other breeds. In the first 3 years that Speckle Park have participating in the Steer-A -Year project in olds College, Old, AB, the Speckle Park steers consumed 5.5 lbs of feed per lb. of gain compared to 5.4 for the other participating breeds. During the first 7 years on test at the Lakeland College Bull Test Station at Vermilion, AB, the bull showed an average of 7.1 lbs. of feed per lb of gain compared to 7.3 for the other breeds. Even though these results may be older, the results are still there. I think it would be fair to say that the tests indicate Speckle Park to be the middle of the pack when it comes to feed conversion. However, the best way to find out is to try feeding some to yourself. When you sink your teeth into a juicy flavorful Speckle Park steak you'll be gald you did!

#4 Docile Nature

Speckle Park are very docile animals. Their gentle disposition make them a pleasure to work with. Accidents while working with cattle are almost unheard of amoung Speckle Park breeders.

Speckle Park animals are becoming a popular choice of 4-H beef members. Their smaller size and quiet disposition make them manageable by even the youngest 4-H member. It is unbelievable how easily some of them halter break. As one 4-H member put it, "They almost halter break themselves".

#5 Hardy & Healthy

With their heavey hair coat, Speckle Park adapt well to the cold Canadian winters. The black points on the animal - eyes, ears, nose, and feet and the black mottled skin under the hair coat lend themselves to few health problems. Pink eye is very rarely a problem and foot rot is seldom a concern. Due to the black teats on the cow, sunburned udders are almost unheard of.