A new breed of cattle, with unique black and white markings, is set to become an increasingly familiar sight on New Zealand farms.

Called Speckle Park, and originating from Canada, the animals not only look attractive, they have attributes which are finding favour with dry stock and dairy farmers.

left: Tony Martens enjoys the quiet nature of Speckle Park cattle. right: For Lyn Martens being able to easily identify individual Speckle Park cattle in the paddock helps with management and animal welfare.

Charlie Matthews, of Speckle Park New Zealand, says the cattle's quiet nature, rapid growth and top quality, marbled meat are making them serious competition for traditional Angus, Hereford and Shorthorn breeds.
'An increasing number of dairy farmers are using Speckle Park for their hybrid vigour and keeping them to grow on as beef cattle,” says Charlie.

Bull sale
It was the two Wairarapa farming families, the McKenzies of Maungahina Station and the Matthews of Wairongomai Station, who formed a partnership in 2008 to bring 70 Speckle Park embryos to New Zealand with the intention of assessing how the breed would perform here. Today that partnership is known as Speckle Park New Zealand and owns New Zealand's largest herd of pure-bred Speckle Park cattle. Next May it will hold a bull sale at Maungahina.
The formation of the partnership among two long-established cattle breeding families followed a visit to Canada in 2007 by Mark McKenzie, who was impressed with the breed and believed it had the attributes to cope with an ever-changing environment thanks to the ability to perform well in conditions from freezing winters to extreme summer heat.
Charlie says last summer's drought certainly proved the point. 'Our Speckle Park didn't receive any special attention over our other breeds during the drought and came through it very well.”

Temperament
The Speckle Park attributes include moderate birth weight, quiet and docile temperament, impressive growth rate, high maternal instinct, easily identifiable speckle colouring,
suitability for both dairy and beef industries; and high carcass quality with consistent and highly marbled meat.
'Abattoirs already have the technology to differentiate on quality; and the time is coming when farmers will receive a premium for premium meat instead of a flat rate for carcass weight. Speckle Park animals produce outstanding carcass quality and we believe they will play a major part in the future of the New Zealand's beef industry,” says Charlie.
Among the early adopters of the breed are Tony and Lynn Martens of Katikati, who bought two pure bred heifers, (called Snow and Speckles) in 2010 and today have 14 pure bred and several cross bred animals.
The couple are kiwifruit orchardists who also own some grazing land; and it was the impacts on the industry of the vine disease Psa-V which promoted them to consider breeding Speckle Park.
'When we looked at doing something different from kiwifruit we decided, why go for a cattle breed which is already well established? Why not try something new?” says Tony.

Joshua
Among their pure bred animals is a young bull called Joshua, which is showing promise of becoming an excellent stud animal. Getting to this stage hasn't been easy, with some early disappointments with embryo transplants, but the Martens say their knowledge is increasing all the time and the potential the breed offers makes persevering worthwhile.
Their aim is to grow their Harbourside Speckle Park Stud herd, providing quality pure bred animals for a breed they believe has great potential in New Zealand.
'We see ourselves as being a boutique breeder and don't want to get too big. But we are certainly enjoying the animals and learning what's involved in the breeding process,” says Lynn.
Most of all the couple enjoy their interaction with the animals which are quiet and relatively easy to handle with engaging personalities, which, along with their distinctive markings, make each individual easy to identify in the paddock.