QUEENSLAND producer Bryan Wormwell has had Speckle Park cattle for the past four years, with his first Speckle bull being purchased at the 2017 Scone sale.
Mr Wormwell has now set up a purebred herd, along with using Speckle bulls over his commercial Simbrah and Angus females at Monivae, Tara, Queensland.
With the bull we bought at Scone, we used him extensively in an AI program and put him with purebred cows for embryo work. We've still got him and he's a beauty.
- Bryan Wormwell, Tara, Queensland
"We'd heard so much about their eating quality and yield," he said.
"They were still new in Australia but they'd been around for a long time in Canada, and we saw the results from carcase competitions in Canada and America."
He now has about 200 Speckle Park-cross calves on the ground.
"With the bull we bought at Scone we used him extensively in an AI program and put him with purebred cows for embryo work," Mr Wormwell said.
"We've still got him and he's a beauty."
The family is also trialling other crosses, including Brahman.
"We artificially inseminated about 50 Speckles with a Brahman bull as a back up so it'll be interesting to see what those calves look like," he said.
Mr Wormwell said he bred Speckle Park cattle on the commercial side first, targeting the feeder steer market.
"We're hoping to grow some out to two years to see how they go, but we've been struggling with drought for 18 months."
Mr Wormwell said the breed was getting more recognition in Queensland on the show circuit and in the saleyards, with heavy heifers and steers reaching highs of $1780 and $1941 a head at a Dalby sale in March.
