In 2007, the Australian Speckle Park Association was formed to handle pure-breed registrations in Australia and New Zealand, and the following year the first embryos were imported into New Zealand by Lindsay Jones of Taupo, in partnership with Maungahina and Waio studs.
Katikati kiwifruit orchardist Lynn and Tony Martens bought two heifers (Snow and Speckles) born as a result of that importation. Snow went on to give birth to a bull calf called Sherriff and Speckles' biological daughter, Dawn, was born to a surrogate mother.
The Martens don't have the bacterial disease Psa-V in their green orchard but, like everyone in the industry, they worry about the impacts of the disease which has seen whole orchards of gold fruit cut to the stumps in Te Puke. The speckle park cattle have proved a welcome diversion.
Mr Martens said: "When we looked at doing something different from kiwifruit, we thought, why go for a cattle breed which is already well-established? Why not try something new?"
Because the breed is new, the animals are expensive, so the Martens decided to harvest embryos from their own cows and artificially inseminate surrogate mothers to produce purebred calves, which they did with the assistance of Animal Breeding Services. "We were told there was a 50/50 chance of getting a pregnancy and from 15 embryos we got eight pregnancies, and five calves from those eight pregnant cows."
Speckle park cattle are attractive animals with a variety of colour patterns. They are predominantly black with white top line and underline, speckled hips and sometimes shoulders, and black or black/roan face.
The second colour pattern, called the leopard pattern, is similar to the speckled but there are definite black spots on the animal instead of just speckles. The white animals with some black hair on the body are considered "leopards".
Third is the "white" pattern - white with black points including around the eyes, on the ears, nose and hooves. "Some people are concerned that white animals will suffer sunburn, but speckle park cattle don't appear to because of the black pigment in their skin," Mrs Martens said.
However, it was not just the animal's appearance or their generally placid temperament that attracted the Martens to the breed.
"They produce high-quality, tasty marbled meat and grow more quickly than many other breeds," Mr Martens said.
Speckle park cattle grow well in an all-grass system without the need for costly additional feed and can reach a weight of 520kg in 18 months. Calves are born at 30kg to 40kg and wean at about 230kg to 370kg. Mature cows range in weight from 600kg to 850kg, and mature bulls in excess of 1000kg.
The Martens hope to increase their Harbourside Speckle Park Stud herd, providing quality purebred animals for a breed they believe has great potential in New Zealand. "We see ourselves as being a boutique breeder and don't want to get too big, but we are certainly enjoying the animals and learning what's involved in the breeding process, which is a lot more complex than we initially realised," Mrs Martens said.
