The Speckles in the Capital sale presents a rare opportunity for local farmers to purchase world-class Speckle Park cattle.
Scheduled to run on 17 September, the sale will be held at SELX Yass.
Speckles in the Capital is the brainchild of Gerard Walsh and Alex Pateman, the principals of Kikiamah and Rose Hill Speckle Park studs, who recognised a lack of Speckle cattle in the Canberra region and wanted to distribute the breed throughout the area.
Demand for quality stud Speckle Park cattle is surging. This year, the breed achieved new world record sale prices for bulls and females, both fetching $100,000 each at Australian auctions (one bull sold at Wagga, one heifer sold at Scone).
Traditionally, Speckle Parks are a moderate framed, early maturing animal that produces a high-yielding, high-quality finished carcass at 14-18 months.
First bred in Canada, the breed suits southern Australian conditions to a tee, thriving through the relatively mild winters (compared to -40oC in Canada) and comfortably managing the dry, hot summers.
Gerard said Speckles in the Capital will promote the Monaro and Southern NSW region to the rest of the country as an exceptional cattle region.
Despite difficult circumstances, last year’s inaugural sale achieved an excellent result – more than 200 stud and Speckle-infused cattle were purchased by local pastoralists and hobby farmers.
In addition, stud cattle were sold to their forever homes as far north as the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland, as well as to NSW, Victoria, and South Australia.
The high-yield, fertile Speckle cattle are ideally suited to a variety of farmers.
For larger cattle operations traditionally turning off bigger-framed, later-finishing cattle, Speckles present a second revenue stream: joining older cows and heifers to a Speckle bull will produce a high-quality calf at a younger age.
Speckles also present advantages to NSW South Coast dairy farmers: using a Speckle bull over dairy heifers can add considerable value to their calves, too.
There are more than 2,500 small farms within a 200km radius of Canberra, and Gerard says Speckles are also ideal for the discerning smallholding farmer looking to maximise their profits with high performance front paddock cattle.
“They’re an easy-doing, good foraging cattle well suited to the region,” he said.
Alex said the Speckles in the Capital sale boasts the most diverse offering of leading Speckle Park genetics ever consigned in Australia.
On offer at the sale are premium quality Speckle Park bulls and Speckle Park females from the widest Speckle Park genetics base of any sale.
Over 80 lots are up for auction from 11 southern NSW studs, meaning a wide variety of genetics will be available throughout the sale.
The sale will consist of 80-plus live stud lots along with genetics packages including semen and embryos.
The Speckles in the Capital sale will be held at Southern Eastern Livestock Exchange (SELX) in Yass, prominently located just off the Hume Highway.
Interested online buyers must register via the Elite Livestock Auctions website (www.elitelivestockauctions.com.au) prior to the sale.
The cattle will be on location at SELX, with inspections available from the afternoon of Friday 16 September.
For those unable to attend, videos of the individual cattle will be uploaded to the Speckles in the Capital website two weeks prior to the sale (www.specklesinthecapital.com.au). Catalogues are available by contacting Gerard on 0413 356 022.
Local and interstate transport post-sale can also be arranged.
The Speckles in the Capital sale will run Saturday 17 September at SELX, Yass. The Speckle Park infused cattle sale starts at 10am, and the Speckle Park Stud cattle and genetics sale at 12pm. Visit www.raywhiteruralyasscanberra.com.au for more.
For more information on sponsored partnerships, click here.
