Has the Speckle Park Bubble Burst? The rise and rise of the Speckle Park breed in Australia has been The rise and rise of the Speckle Park breed in Australia has been a controversial talking point for the last five years in the cattle industry. During that time, the numbers of Speckle Park cattle in Australia have outstripped the numbers of Speckle Park cattle in the Speckle Park mother country, Canada. Speckle Park has, at times, been the fastest growing breed in Australia. It has fetched at times, higher average sale prices than the more established breeds such as Angus, Shorthorn and Hereford cattle. The question arises “Have prices created a Speckle Park bubble”. Like anything else in the commercial world, from currency to commodities, there comes a time when the prices flatten out and investors (in this case, commercial breeders) ask, “What next?”. This article examines the question.
Six Star Premier
In 2018, Smoke and Mirrors was the talk of the town and won many awards and achievements, including Sydney Grand Champion.
Bulls Across-the-board sales of bulls in 2018 averaged highs of $12,000 - $13,000 and showed a downward trend down to approximately $6,500. For instance, the recent JAD sales in 2020 for bulls was almost 50% lower than the bull sales for 2019 at $7,350. The same was true for Wattlegrove between 2018-2019, when bull averages went from $12,891 to $7,976 and at the recent Scone sale, bull prices averaged just under $6,000. That was also the case at the Waratah sale in August 2020 which averaged just under $8,000, showing that breeders are still looking for value for money at the lower end of the market Minnamurra had bull averages of $11,392 in 2017, with sires from Royal Flesh 101Y and Stands Alone 300X dropping the following year to an average sale of $5,704.
Wattlegrove Smoke and Mirrors
In 2019, JAD produced Night Rider N8, a magnificent black bull. Rosehill, dominated at Sydney in 2019 with Rose Hill Montagu.
The Speckleme sale achieved an average $7,500. The most successful female sale of 2019 (in the middle of Australia’s worst drought) was the Mt Eccles Sale with an average of over $11,000. The sale catalogue was a work of art. The early 2020 JAD, Speckleme and Scone sales confirmed the bull trend was down.
Is there a Speckle Park Bubble and has the Bubble burst. Is there a bubble? and if so, has the bull bubble burst? If it has, it is difficult to understand why. Looking back, the quality of the bulls appears to be as good, if not better, than in the past. There is no doubt that bulls ordinarily fetch the top prices, but top bull prices came down from $35,000 to about $20,000 - $24,000 between 2017-2019 Six Star Premier, the first interbreed champion was a magnificent bull, weighing in at a perfect 922kg and winning Supreme Grand Champion at Canberra and Melbourne in 2017.
Rose Hill Montagu
Performance in 2018-2019 Fast forward to 2020. A Spectacular Speckleme Sale took place in Queensland. The EBVs were exceptional over a wide range of genetics, with 16-18-month-old bulls achieving averages from mid 600kgs to mid 700kgs. This is a real credit to Anne Knoblanche and her partners, Bell and Ebbeck, for an exceptionally high range of performance and consistency across the board.
Speckle Park Beef Society Bulletin October 2020 | 20
