Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
The Speckle Park cattle breed was the new kid on the block when the first National Show and Sale of its kind took place at this year’s edition of Canadian Western Agribition in Regina.
Canada’s Animal Pedigree Act refers to the Speckle Park as an evolving breed.
North Battleford cattle producer Ed Smith has been a Speckle Park breeder for the last 28 years.
"I was lucky enough to get my first stock from originators Bill and Eileen Lamont of Maidstone, who started the breed around 1958-59," he says. "At the moment, the application for status as a distinct breed is in the final stages of preparation, and we feel that in 2006 we should have a purebred breed."
"The original seed stock came from England with the Barr Colonists around 1903-04. These people were settlers in the Lloydminster area. The story goes that they brought purebred shorthorn cattle that were carrying White Park calves. They found the offspring of this mating had an interesting colour pattern. They were red and white at the time, rather than black and white as you see them today."
In the 1950s, the Lamont family became interested in these historically significant animals. At the time, they were raising purebred Angus cattle and purebred Appaloosa horses, explains Smith.
"They thought these were pretty interesting cattle because their patterns were similar to the patterns on their horses, so they got a few of them and liked them so much that Bill had the idea that someday we could make a breed of this. He started crossing them with his Angus cattle and he changed the red and white pattern to a black and white pattern. The rest is history."
"He kept breeding them until he had a couple of dozen, and he let some of his family members have some of them," says Smith. "I believe that my wife Kathy and I were the first people allowed to buy these animals outside of his family."
Smith and 10 other Speckle Park enthusiasts got together in 1983 to form an association of Speckle Park breeders.
"In 1993, we got our papers as an evolving breed and we have been breeding them ever since, trying to make them like peas in a pod. These cattle are a black pigment to begin with. The cattle industry likes that because producers don’t have to worry about sunburns on udders and pinkeye.
“They have black sides, a white top line and a white belly. Then they go white down over the hips with black speckles on them. The feet are black; eyes are black; the ears are black, and the nose is black. There are some variations of that colour, as well. They will go from a white colour—still with the black pigmentation—to a white colour with black speckles up the legs; the nose, hocks and ears will be black," Smith says.
Over the years, Speckle Park have gained a reputation as a carcass breed of the highest quality with moderate size, according to Smith. Cows typically weigh between 1,200 and 1,400 pounds; bulls weigh between 1,800 and 2,200 pounds.
"In terms of marbling, our cattle probably are exceeding what the British cattle have done over the years—and we have bred them specifically to do this. So we have marbled beef without a lot of fat cover on the animal, and we have a very tender piece of meat."
"Butchers love this carcass because it is very easy to cut," says Smith. "They are small-boned animals and there is a higher meat-to-bone ratio than there is on many of the other breeds… and the taste seems to be superior."
Smith obviously exhibits the pride in his breed that one would expect.
"They have very good maternal instincts," he says. "The calves are vigorous at birth, in that 75-pound range. Easy calving. In 28 years, I have had one caesarean. I think it was because we had an accident: the neighbour's bull got into my pasture. Needless to say, he was not a Speckle Park bull."
For more information, contact:
Ed Smith
Canadian Speckle Park Cattle Association
(306) 937-3686
www.specklepark.ca
0 comments:
Post a Comment