Jackungah stud principal Jack Nelson is on a mission to prove the Speckle Park breed is more than just a pretty coat.
Using his stud's success in carcase competitions as a selling point, Mr Nelson, together with his dad Sam, at Pine Lodge, are gearing up to position the breed as a leading terminal sire in the Australian cattle industry.
The stud was established in 2012 after the Nelsons were blown away by the performance vigour of Speckle Park/Angus-cross steers they dabbled in breeding.
"They converted feed above and beyond any other breed we have bred, so we chased that line," he said.
The father-son duo runs 150 Angus cows that are joined to a Speckle Park bull.
The pure Speckle Park progeny have found three successful markets, including stud and commercial breeders, and local dairy farms.
The stud was founded with embryos flushed from Speckle Park cows purchased from the now dispersed Riverina Speckle Park, Nargun Den, Mt Rankin and more recently Bowman Park, as well as embryos from Wattle Grove Speckle Park, Oberon, NSW.
These foundation cows were flushed, alongside top Jackungah breeders, and inseminated with semen from Canadian and New Zealand sires.
"Recently we've been importing semen from MT Bar Eddie The Eagle 01E, Andchris Boomerang 7F from INC and Ravensworth Invictus 103C," he said.
The eight year-old stud has been backed by its peers after breeding the reserve junior champion bull at Sydney Royal in 2018, as part of a show team of three place-getting bulls.
All three bulls were sold to Minnamurra Speckle Park, Coolah, NSW, to a top price of $18,000 to average $14,000.
The top-priced bull, Jackungah Money Maker M07, was sired by Mainstream Eldorado E11, out of Jackungah Koda K01, who was the senior champion female at the 2017 Melbourne Royal Speckle Park Feature Show.
The joining of Mainstream Eldorado E11 and Jackungah Koda K01 is proving a lethal combination, with Mr Nelson anticipating progeny offered for sale this year would turn heads among Australian Speckle Park breeders.
"We sold embryos from the same combination to JAD Speckle Park, Eurimbla, NSW, who will have calves for sale in their bull sale next year," he said.
Bulls are currently offered at 14-16 months-old for private sale, with the top bulls selected for sale at the Speckle Park Multi-Vendor Sale in Scone, NSW.
The stud's genetic performance dominates in carcase competitions, with multiple wins under their belts.
Proving another drawcard to the Speckle Park breed was the launch of SPKL, a new Speckle Park branded beef product targeting the high-end restaurant market.
The SPKL brand was launched in 2018 and offers full traceability of all products from both grass-fed and grain-fed preparations, and offers a premium on 300-500 kilogram Speckle Park steers and heifers.
Mr Nelson hoped the breed's brand, together with the breed's stud and carcase performance, would see Speckle Parks dominate the commercial industry.
"I'd like to see Speckles get as big as the Angus breed," he said.
"It won't happen in the next few years, but as a breed, we're certainly building a good reputation achieving all the right performance measures to make it happen.
"Soon, I'd like to see Speckles top weaner sales and more breeders crossing Angus with Speckle bulls - that's the ultimate goal.
"Our cow herd is what we pride ourselves on, so Beef Week will give people a chance to see why we're so passionate."