What are Speckle Park? What do they look like, what size are they, and what are their merits? These are all questions to which you will want answers before deciding whether or not to invest in the breed.

Breed Characteristics

Speckle Park are genetically black with varying amounts of white in specific patterns. The speckle pattern is preferred but the other patterns are very much accepted. The speckle pattern is predominantly black with a white top line and underline, with speckled hips, and sometimes shoulders, and with a black or black roan face. The leopard pattern shows more white than the speckle pattern. In the leopard pattern the black sides of the speckle pattern are broken into a series of definite black spots. The number and size of the spots varies greatly from animal to animal. Some leopards have predominantly white sides with only a few black spots or splashes on their sides. The leopard also has a white top line and underline. The third color pattern is the white with black points. Animals with this pattern are predominantly white on the body and face but always have black points, that is to say, the ears, nose, skin around the eyes and the lowest portion of the legs including the hooves are black. These same points are black on all of the patterns. Teats are black.

Speckle Park are moderately sized animals. On the average mature cows weigh in at about 1200 pounds and mature bulls at 2000 pounds. Calves average 75 to 80 pounds at birth and wean at about 550 pounds. Speckle Park are to be polled, thus saving their owners the extra time and expense of dehorning. Some have scurs.

Traits with Advantages

Speckle Park have desirable traits which are advantageous to the cow calf operator, the feed lot operator, the butcher and the consumer. Here's why we raise Speckle Park.

#1 - Consistently High Quality Carcasses Finished Efficiently

"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 Parkers Ltd., Vermilion, AB.

Feeders, meat graders and butchers are very impressed with the consistently high quality carcasses of the Speckle Park. Every breed can produce high quality carcasses but what is impressive is when the carcasses of a particular breed are consistently of the highest quality. Such is the case with Speckle Park. The consistently high quality of Speckle Park is demonstrated by their superior performance in carcass competitions at the Calgary Stampede and at the Olds College Steer-A-Year program over many years.

Another impressive fact about Speckle Park is their unique ability to produce AAA carcasses without an excess of outer fat cover. Speckle Park consistently produce marbled meat with a minimum of fat cover.

Speckle Park have moderately sized carcasses. According to Fred Taylor, beef grades standards officer with the Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA), the ideal size carcass is between 650 and 750 lbs. The reason is the rib-eye area. The optimum rib-eye for the retail and restaurant trade is between 77 and 86 sq. cm. Carcasses in excess of 750 lbs. give rib-eyes too large to slice into 1" thick steaks and still maintain an 8 oz. portion that's juicy and flavorful. Also the price tag on the large steaks is too high so consumers just won't buy them. Consumers are looking for steaks of the right size and the best taste.

For the consumer the AAA well marbled beef ensures tender beef with excellent flavour. Beef from Speckle Park is typically finer grained with smaller but more numerous deposits of intramuscular fat (marbling). There is always a strong market for Speckle Park beef among those who recognize quality eating.

Where Speckle Park are recognized and turn up in numbers, Speckle Park influence feeder calves are toping the markets at the feeder sales such as the one every October in Ponoka, AB. Finished Speckle Park sold on the grid also bring significant premiums for the feeders' efforts.

Speckle Park are giving every indication that they are efficient converters of feed. Speckle Park can be finished naturally off of grass with minimal, if any, grain inputs.

Speckle Park are also demonstrating that they retain these carcass advantages when crossed on other breeds, either beef or dairy.

Speckle Park steers on test may be viewed at the Steer-A-Year project at Olds College, Olds, AB. Every year since 2000 Speckle Park have participated in this project. The official test begins at the beginning of November of each year and ends when the last of the steers go to market at the end of April. The Speckle Park steers entered in this project have demonstrated their consistent high quality carcasses over the years.

Speckle Park bulls on test may be viewed at the Lakeland College Performance Bull Test in Vermillion, AB, from October to March. The results of the ultrasound tests just prior to the sale consistently demonstrate each year the high degree of marbling in these bulls. For the monthly reports of the bull's progress click here

#2 - Calving Ease, Vigorous Calves and Good Maternal Instinct

Speckle Park rarely experience difficulty calving. The calves average 75 to 80 pounds at birth and are extremely vigorous. Most newborns are up and sucking within minutes. One herd's average on one claving season was eleven minutes from hitting the ground to standing and sucking. Sucking does not require standing! Most heifers calve without assistance.

Speckle Park cows are very protective against predators when it comes to caring for their calves but easy on their human managers. The cows have well attached and tight udders which supply ample very thick milk. Coloured teats of course are an advantage in sun and snow country.

Many commercial cattlemen are finding Speckle Park bulls a wise choice for breeding heifers. The smaller birth weights increase the calving ease, but also increase the quality of the resulting carcass.

#3 - Quiet and Manageable

Speckle Park are cattle but as cattle go are very manageable animals. Their calm disposition makes them a pleasure to work with. They view strangers in the pasture with interest but do not flee. Aggressive bulls are extremely rare. Speckle Park breeders specifically and consistently select against poor temperaments. Accidents while working with cattle are almost unheard of among Speckle Park breeders.

Speckle Park animals are becoming a popular choice of 4-H beef members. For one thing they look different but for another 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".

#4 - Hardy and Healthy

Speckle Park grow heavy coats in winter and slick off for the summer. They adapt well to the cold Canadian winters as well as the heat of the summer. The black points on the animals - 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 cows rarely suffer from effects of sun and snow.