REGINA — Jason Goodfellow has seen Speckle Park cattle gain international recognition since the first embryos from the unique breed went to Australia in 2005.
Those first packages of genetics were sold at Canadian Western Agribition, and buyers have returned.
About 300 to 500 embryos have been exported per year, and there are now 2,500 females in Australia, where Speckle Park is valued as a carcass breed.
“They have surpassed us,” said Goodfellow, who has been involved with the breed all his life.
“We gave them enough to keep them coming back,” he said.
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The Australians have crossed the breed with Brahmans. The resulting animal maintains the distinctive black and white colour but loses the neck hump and has ears that are less floppy. The goal is to improve meat quality.
“This is the only beef breed that can colour up,” he said.
“They can look at it from a distance and know it has Speckle Park in it because of the colour pattern.”
Goodfellow has created Six Star Speckle Park at Neilburg, Sask., to market the breed around the world.
At this year’s Agribition sale, Redneck Ranch of Odessa, Sask., sold a package of five embryos for $4,250 to Brookway Farm of Dorset, England.
The breed was created in Canada and is gaining acceptance as a carcass breed.
“People are using these not necessarily for the colour but because they know they can get a good carcass,” he said.
Goodfellow has 100 purebred cows and a major flushing program.
“A lot of these females get flushed four times a year,” he said.
“No other breed does that but we have to, we have no choice.”
Goodfellow had the high seller with a heifer at the Agribition sale. It went for $10,000 to Gerald Watchell of Lloyd-minster.
The 17 lots averaged $3,869.
