Speckles light a spark at Manilla

He and his wife Sally have a small property of about 100 hectares at Manilla and another 700ha at Barraba, in the Tamworth region of northern New South Wales.

The Sparkes have traditionally produced Angus and European-cross cattle.

They decided to make the switch to the Speckle Parks after observing the breed's performance at the nearby Oakey Creek stud, owned by Dennis and Lou Saint.

"We quickly realised the potential of the breed to turn off faster maturing progeny at ages of about eight to 15 months," Mr Sparke said.

They now used Speckle Park bulls over Charolais and Angus-cross cows in their 120-head breeding herd.

The Sparke family's property is in a medium rainfall zone, with the bulk of the 650 millimetre average annual rainfall in summer.

This lends itself to production of improved sub-tropical grasses for summer grazing and winter forage crop planting for grazing if seasons are conducive.

Mr Sparke said he had been using sub-tropical grasses for about 20 years, rather than relying on a lucerne monoculture that was popular in the district.

"The Barraba property is typical tablelands country and in Manilla we have predominantly red soils," he said.

"We have target areas of the properties that we sow to the sub-tropical grasses each year and some of the stands are 20-years-old and still going strong.

"We try to aim for one third of the landholding as native pastures, one third as improved sub-tropical grasses and one third as fodder crops each year."

Mr Sparke said the feed base was vital to ensuring success when it came to cattle production.

"We find that lucerne alone doesn't cut it and the sub-tropicals just give us green feed for longer and respond faster to rain, allowing flexibility and reducing our overall business risk.

"We are in a rebuilding phase following prolonged drought and our expansion is firmly based on production of beef kilograms per hectare."

Pasture growth across the year allows the Sparkes to have two joining periods to produce calves in autumn and spring.

Winter forage crops that are sown in March can carry cows that calve in the autumn.

These calves are grown out and sold at the end of the year, which spreads income to mitigate risk.

RELATED READING:

But Mr Sparke said it was a predominantly spring calving system.

"We just tend to play the season," he said.

"If we can get good winter feed, it gives us the option of selling some autumn calves early, and outside of the typical sale seasonal flush. Any excess feed is also used for hay and silage that tends to be fed out as a supplement in winter if there is a feed gap."

Mr Sparke said the Speckle Park-cross cattle he produced were sold at weights of 280kg to 350kg as weaners - many straight from their mothers - or as yearlings at about 12 to 15 months of age and weighing from 350kg to 450kg.

He said they were sold direct to finishers or through the saleyards after close market analysis for the best option.

About 30 heifer calves are retained each year for self-replacements in the herd. The remainder are sold, to strong demand in recent years.

Heifers are typically mated to calve at two years of age but this is flexible according to seasonal conditions.

Mr Sparke said the hybrid vigour and superior meat-to-bone ratio of the Speckle Park had drawn him to use the breed in the commercial crossbred operation with Charolais and Angus cows.

He observed the Oakey Creek stud herd for a couple of years before switching from Angus and Charolais bulls to Speckle Parks.

"They were quiet in temperament, early maturing and more than stacked up with the crosses we were getting from our Angus genetics," he said.

Now many of his cows are first and second-crosses and they're are excellent mothers.

"Fertility and milk production is second to none and they finish their calves earlier than many Angus crosses with a good bone," he said.

"The Speckle Park progeny is always in demand from a range of buyers.

"At the end of the day, it is all about dollars per kilogram and kilograms per hectare - and the Speckle Parks are delivering."

Speckle Park bulls are adding carcase quality and improving hybrid vigour, but he will still use some Charolais sires as needed to keep the larger frame.

"I now have about a decade of experience with them and am not looking to change out of them for the future.

"These cattle look good, have an excellent nature and clean up fast in late winter without being too hairy. This makes for very even and well presented pens when you go to sell them."