Trial and error pays off for Speckle Park producers

The couple manage the 10,120-hectare commercial cattle property, Rockland Spring, east of Comet, for Mespine Pty Ltd, and have done so for the past 33 years with great success.

Currently running 1200 Droughtmaster/Charolais/Brahman cross breeders, the Biles' have stepped out of their comfort zone in recent years by introducing Speckle Park, and the results speak for themselves.

"Our country is so good up here, and we were having trouble with our first calf heifers calving. The low birthweights of the Speckle Park have really lifted our calving percentages," Mr Biles said.

With this year being the fifth that they have purchased and run Speckle Park bulls with their younger heifers, he believes they now have a good gauge of how they perform in their program.

"We really did start out with a bit of trial and error but we are very happy with the results with our heifers now, and are getting those low birthweight calves out."

Retaining about 200 replacement heifers annually, they joined 400 heifers to Speckle Park bulls last year and achieved great results in their Brigalow country.

"Our objective is to get a quick flat back steer out of a Brahman cross cow. Our first lot of Speckle Park cross steers went to a feedlot last year and this year we will sell a large number of steers into the feeder market again."

Purely pasture-fed, Mr Biles said their Speckle Park steers got to 450 to 470kg weight quickly, which he was impressed with. "They (Speckle Park) seem to be the better steers in a mob of 400."

Mr Biles said he did retain around 20 steers and grew them out to bullocks, which he would send to Teys at Rockhampton shortly.

"Hopefully they will grade out nicely and if they do it will be a bonus. My ideal beast is a nice flat backed steer with a quiet temperament, good confirmation, and length, and that is what we are now breeding with the help of the Speckle Park sires."

Sourcing their bulls from several Speckle Park studs in NSW over the past five years, including Minnamurra, Waratah, and Wattle Grove, the Biles have been buying from Justin and Amy Dickens at JAD Speckle Park stud, Yeoval, for the past four.

"Last year we also got some semen packages from JAD's really good sire, Quistacat Q48, and AI'd a lot of heifers to him. We've only just branded his calves in recent months."

Mr Biles said he found the Speckle Park influence helped his cattle fill out quicker as they grew and produced a nice clean coat.

"I don't know what it is about the white stripe down their back or their colour, but it makes them look good. It's better than driving around looking at a boring red or a white. They seem to be matching it with other breeds in carcase competitions etc. I think it will be a couple of years though before they can really get that premium."

Buying four Speckle Park bulls annually, the Biles have assisted with the acclimatisation of the Speckle Park to their conditions in the Capricorn region.

"We've nursed the bulls through a bit when we get them up here during their first season, as we don't want to wear them out. We actually stored a bit of semen so we didn't have to work them as hard during their first year up here. We have AI'd up to 300 heifers and used them as mop-up bulls.

"We mix it up a bit and still run Droughtmaster and Shorthorn bulls over our older cows. We've got a lot of maiden Speckle Park heifers now so we're not sure whether to put Speckle's back over those first-cross heifers or what our next step will be.

"It has been a bit of an experiment to see how they grow out. We really just gave one bull a go and got a few white calves and it has just grown from there."