Results do the talking at JAD Speckle Park

THIS IS BRANDED CONTENT FOR JAD SPECKLE PARK

They say to let your results do the talking, and for JAD Speckle Park in Central West NSW, there's really little else to be said.

The meteoric rise of this Yeoval-based Speckle Park stud, run by Justin and Amy Dickens, has been nothing short of spectacular, with records broken at each annual bull and female sale since their first in 2019.

Most importantly, the stud's commercial focus and strict selection process is clearly hitting the right chords, with a significantly high percentage of large-scale repeat clients turning to JAD for their Speckle Park bulls and genetics.

With five annual sales under their belt, and their sixth coming up on April 5, Mr Dickens says they have never felt more passionate about the breed and its suitability to the Australian beef industry. And they've been happy to put their money where their mouth is to prove it with science.

"We are focused on producing cattle with plenty of performance while maintaining structural integrity, fertility and good temperaments," Mr Dickens said.

"We want to maintain the inherent strong points of this breed, being a moderate-framed cow that is highly efficient and hardy.

"We are strategically using genetics from New Zealand, and now our own sires, to enhance this base with added performance, to ensure progeny from our bulls go on to hit market specifications with ease."

Mr Dickens said the beef industry appeared to have chased growth "off a cliff" to appease feedlots, and that had come at the expense of functionality, longevity - and ultimately profitability - of the cow herd.

"We need to remember that we live on the driest continent in the world and it forgets to rain here from time to time," he said.

"We need to maintain efficient and highly fertile cowherds, yet I see mature cow weights getting out of control in some breeds and that comes out through both reduced fertility and poor structure.

"Cows can only produce us one calf in a year; they're not like sheep that can produce multiples plus a wool clip.

"Having that one calf per year is a non-negotiable.

"The other pitfall of chasing growth and single traits as hard as the industry has is the negative impact on bull longevity.

"The cost per calf when bulls are struggling to last beyond two seasons is huge, and quickly chews up any breed-based premiums that may be on offer."

The JAD program prides itself on its strict culling program, and welcomes the input of renowned independent structural/docility consultant, Dick Whale, Independent Breeding and Marketing Services (IBMS), Wangaratta, VIC.

The stud also carries a five-star Breedplan Completeness of Performance rating, which relates to the amount of raw data they submit to Breedplan to improve the accuracy of estimated breeding values (EBVs) for their animals.

"Once all of our data has been submitted to Breedplan, the accuracy of our bulls' EBVs at 18 months old is comparable with bulls of the same age from well-known Angus studs," Mrs Dickens said.

"We try to get all the little things right well in advance of sale day, to give our clients confidence in the product we're offering.

"We then back that up with a 12-month guarantee on our bulls, and I believe we're the only Speckle Park stud to offer that length of guarantee on bulls.

"We do that happily as we receive very few comebacks and want to have a win-win relationship with our clients, not a win-lose.

"We have been on the receiving end of our fair share of win-lose arrangements and it's just not the way we want to do business."

The Dickens first introduced Speckle Park commercially to their 1206-hectare mixed farming operation, based at "Greenvale", Yeoval, in 2012 - the same year they purchased their first property.

The breed performed so well that by 2016, they decided to branch out into seedstock.

JAD Speckle Park's debut auction appearance in 2019 was nothing short of spectacular.

The newly-formed stud broke a world record when they sold a black Speckle Park bull for $23,000, and achieved the best Speckle Park stud bull average of the year, with all 28 bulls sold to average $11,214.

In the five years since their launch, the young start-up business owners have taken JAD Speckle Park from strength to strength, and they have kept on smashing records.

In 2021, they set an Australasian record for a purebred registered Speckle Park heifer at $40,000, and in 2022, their stud bulls averaged $23,000 to set a world record Speckle Park bull sale average.

In both 2022 and 2023, their stud bulls topped at $55,000, and in four of their five bull sales held to date, they have achieved the highest averaging Speckle Park bull sale for that year. Their 2023 sale averaged $12,917 for 36 stud bulls.

JAD's buyers come from all states of Australia, and overseas too, and the stud has become the go-to for commercially-focused operators seeking quality, functional Speckle Park cattle.

JAD Speckle Park launched in 2016, but its story began in 2012, when the Dickens purchased their first property - something they'd only dreamed about.

"We had a goal of one day buying a farm but we thought it would never happen because neither of us were going to inherit one," Mrs Dickens said.

They worked hard, continuing with their full time jobs as they set about establishing a livestock trading business, running the farm after work and on weekends.

They ran nearly all breeds across those early few years, but it was Speckle Park that caught their eye.

"Their hardiness really stood out, they were good maternally, they had a good early maturity pattern - and then we started eating the beef, and that was really the straw that broke the camel's back," Mrs Dickens said.

"It's just sensational. Everybody who breeds cattle says that about their own cattle, but all our friends and family say it too - the beef is something else."

While there were no plans for a stud in the beginning, the Dickens found the Speckle Park breed just kept on performing in their commercial operation.

In 2016, after they sold PTIC commercial heifers for an Australian record of $5800, they were able to take the next step, buying 140 embryos out of Canada to start JAD Speckle Park.

The JAD team has since transferred more than 3000 embryos to rapidly grow the stud with the best quality genetics from around the world, sourced on the back of several trips to Canada and New Zealand to inspect sires and dams.

From a first drop of 74 head registered in 2017, they will register about 400 stud calves born in 2023.

The Dickens are passionate about the Speckle Park breed and the advantages it can bring to Australian producers.

They've invested heavily in genetics and research, and place a huge emphasis on data collection.

JAD's breeding philosophy is to optimise cow size, select to maximise return per hectare, and ultimately maximise profit for their clients.

"We pride ourselves on being really tough on our animals in terms of culling and only putting our absolute best up for sale," Mrs Dickens said.

"The result of that decision within our stud is that our clients are getting great longevity out of our bulls."

The Dickens knew that to improve breed traction, they needed to back up anecdotes about breed attributes with trial work and science.

In 2023, they custom fed 168 first-cross Speckle Park-cross steers at Ravensworth Feedlot, Hay, to demonstrate the breed's excellent feed conversion rates.

The steers put on one kilogram of weight for every 5.2 kilograms of dry matter (5.2:1) after 100 days with an average daily weight gain (ADG) of 2.1 kilograms per day.

"We had observed how efficient and resilient our Speckle Park are on-farm...and we wanted to produce more solid data by seeing how they would go out to around 180 days on feed, without a HGP (hormone growth promotant)," Mr Dickens said.

"After 173 days on feed, they averaged 682kg on exit, and converted at 5.78:1 with a 1.65kg/day ADG from induction weight.

"Of the 1466 non-HGP Angus steers fed at the same feedlot, over the same period, they converted at 6.64:1 with a 1.73kg/day ADG from induction."

Mr Dickens said that difference of 0.86:1 feed conversion rate over 173 days equated to a feed saving of 24,995kg, totalling $11,247, or $66.96 per head.

In addition, the entire consignment only had three animals treated during their time on feed - one for pinkeye and two for respiratory.

"We are told the pull rate over this length of time on feed is usually 10-12pc of the mob - so that number should have been more like 15-20 animals," Mr Dickens said.

"This demonstrates the inbuilt resilience that we observe with the Speckle Park breed on-farm.

"Feed efficiency is key to a profitable enterprise and Speckle Park cows are efficient producers, with their more moderate mature cow weight and efficient conversion allowing producers to run more cows per hectare and wean more kilograms of beef per hectare.

"There is too much focus around individual animal performance and gross profit from an animal, while it is net profit per hectare that matters at the end of the day."

To promote the meat quality attributes of Speckle Park beef, the Dickens also invested close to $40,000 in meat research at the University of Newcastle last year.

They took live muscle biopsies from 50 yearling 2022-drop stud animals - 25 bulls and 25 heifers - then froze the biopsies and took them to the University of Newcastle.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) content, fat melting point (FMP), and omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) composition are associated with beef consumer satisfaction and key eating quality attributes because of their associations with taste, smell, texture, tenderness, flavour and juiciness.

Overall, the samples came in with a low melting point average of 37.4 degrees for the females and 43.4 degrees for the males, with one sample recording a fat melting point of just 29.3 degrees.

"That was about the lowest that has been recorded from animals of that age in that particular lab, across breeds," Mrs Dickens said.

When it came to omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, 11 samples exceeded "source" levels of 30mg per 100g of tissue.

"Fish is normally the richest source of omega-3 long chain PUFAs, while beef has minimal levels," Mrs Dickens said.

"We are already using the information from this research in our breeding decisions and will continue to invest in this type of research going forward.

"We will also use it to help open up new pathways to market for the breed, to ultimately benefit our clients."

JAD Speckle Park has a huge year planned for 2024, kicking off with the stud's sixth annual bull and female sale on April 5.

JAD will present 40 purebred registered spring 2022-drop bulls, 15 PTIC purebred registered heifers, 32 PTIC commercial Speckle Park heifers, and elite semen packages.

The Central West NSW stud is also making a push north this year, exhibiting at Beef Australia in Rockhampton for the first time in May, and at AG-Grow Emerald Field Days in June.

Then in August, they'll host their inaugural JAD Queensland Speckle Park and Angus Bull Sale at Rolleston, in Central Queensland.

For more information about JAD Speckle Park, visit jadspecklepark.com.au or call Justin Dickens at (0427) 012 284, or Amy Dickens at (0427) 464 333.

THIS IS BRANDED CONTENT FOR JAD SPECKLE PARK