A booming market for Speckle Park genetics

While studs have previously imported the majority of their semen from Canada, it's now a large market for Australian semen.

The past few years have been a period of rapid growth for Speckle Park semen sales, according to Tim Weller, marketing manager at World Wide Sires.

Mr Weller has spent 20 years in the artificial insemination (AI) industry, working in both dairy and beef and runs his own Speckle Park stud, Wellerlou, at Coolamon, NSW.

Just five years ago, the breed wasn't big enough to be listed on its own in the National Herd Improvement Association of Australia semen market survey, so in 2019 the Speckle Park results were placed in the other section.

"In 2020 it was blatantly obvious to all of us that 99pc of the other group was Speckle Park, and the only breeds bigger were Hereford and Angus," Mr Weller said.

"Now, Speckle Park comfortably has the second biggest units of semen sold behind Angus, and in the domestic beef cow herd, there's definitely more Angus cows.

"So of all the semen that gets sold, Speckle Park is a significant player, even if you take out all the beef on dairy semen which makes up a big part of sales."

Australia's no-nonsense type - a cow with scale, stretch, and performance recording to back up its structure - sets the cattle apart, Mr Weller said.

"We're leading the way in terms of performance recording and performance-focused outcomes.

"Other countries are noticing the style of cow that we've got in Australia, and the demand is based around performance, growth, and size.

"The Speckle Park cow in Canada, in some places, has lost a bit of scale and stretch and we've managed to breed that in Australia because cattle have got to perform and compete here, so the smaller ones don't survive.

"Semen buyers want the right shape, right style, and right performance."

Mr Weller and his wife Lindy bred Wellerlou M25 Monte S38, the only Australian Speckle Park bull to have sold global semen rights.

"We took him to the Sydney Royal Easter Show and two leading studs wanted him outright, but we sold global semen rights, so they'll be selling semen in the US and Canada," Mr Weller said.

"He's the first-ever Australian-bred bull that a stud has done that with, but it's only the start of it - we're going to see a lot more sales like that for Australian studs."

Semen is the easiest way to diversify genetics, and in recent years it's become cost-effective, especially given the record prices that commercial producers are up against to introduce new genetics to their herds.

"A lot of farmers across the country worked out that it's significantly cheaper to do AI programs, even as commercial producers, than compete at the big sales for bulls.

"A commercial producer might not be able to afford a $50,000 bull but they can spend $10,000 on AI and use a $100,000 bull."

For the commercial market, about 80 to 90 per cent of semen sales are domestic, and performance recording is a big priority given the widespread use of estimated breeding values in other breeds.

"They want bulls that have birthweight, yearling, and 400-day weight recorded because they're used to buying semen from Angus bulls on the same data," Mr Weller said.

"Generally, they're crossing with Angus in southern areas, but there are still plenty going into crossbred productions, a lot of Bos Indicus herds, in the north."

Demand for Speckle Park semen remains high in the dairy industry, with the distinctive coat, carcase quality, and ability to mature early making the breed a good option over Holstein and Jersey cows.

"Over the past four or five years, the success rate using sexed semen to produce replacement heifers has improved significantly, so with the dairy farmer now handpicking the cows they're wanting replacements from, the rest are joined to beef," Mr Weller said.

The breed's carcase quality, especially early intramuscular fat, is a big benefit, Mr Weller said.

"Because the Speckle Park has a moderate birthweight and can get up and grow, it's a low-maintenance option, and about 75pc of these calves will grade equal to a normal beef on beef cattle.

"Holstein and Jersey are good for intramuscular fat, but they're very late maturing, but the Speckle Park, being an early-maturing breed, balances it out."

The carcase quality and yield is meeting the needs of butchers, with Jersey herds on the North Coast unable to keep up with demand from local butcher shops.

"There's more uptake from the butcher than the saleyards because the butcher's only looking at the product he's cutting up, how much he's had to pay, and how much he can sell it for."