A history speckled with innovation.
Our story so far.
1953
At the turn of the last century, there were cattle around Lloydminster in Saskatchewan, Canada, that had derived from Shorthorn and from cattle that displayed the Park colour pattern.
By 1953, Mary Lindsay of Lloydminster had gathered together animals that displayed the breed characteristic colour pattern.
1958
In 1958, beef cattle breeders, Bill and Eileen Lamont, of Maidstone, Saskatchewan (who at that time were breeding Angus cattle and Appaloosa horses), bought their first speckled cattle from Mary and began a breeding programme with their purebred cattle. The Lamonts named the cattle Speckle Park – Speckle for the colour pattern, and Park for the white with black points pattern of the English cattle. The resulting offspring came in a variety of colour patterns, some white with black points, some leopard coloured (spotted on their sides), and some black-sided with speckled hips, white top/underline and roan faces.
Other beef cattle breeders saw them come through the cattle markets and bringing a premium price. Their interest grew in these hardy, heavy milking and distinctly marked cattle to the point where they started purchasing bulls and females from the Lamonts to try them in their herds. Within a few short years, a dedicated group of breeders were now breeding Speckle Park cattle mainly from the Neilburg area of northern Saskatchewan.
1985
In 1985, with the help and support of nine of those other Saskatchewan cattlemen, the Canadian Speckle Park Association was formed. Their aim from there on was to stabilise the breed and have them recognised as a pure breed.
1993
On June 4, 1993, Agriculture Canada approved the incorporation of the Canadian Speckled Park Association and Speckle Park were declared an ‘evolving’ breed of cattle.
Unlike most other countries, Canada's Minister of Agriculture - and through the Animal Pedigree Act - insists that anyone trying to start a new breed go through stringent protocol procedures to have the breed declared a ‘distinct’ breed. This comes after the period of time the breed is in the evolving breed status, all of which is overseen by Government authorities. Stabilising breed characteristics and keeping pedigrees are two major protocols that have to be upheld.
2006
On July 6, 2006, the Minister for Agriculture announced the Speckle Park breed a ‘distinct’ pure breed - the first and only breed to be developed in Saskatchewan, Canada.
2007
In 2007, Speckle Park were introduced into Australia by Speckle Park Cattle Co. They were introduced into New Zealand in the same year when Lindsay Jones imported embryos from Canada. He formed his own stud, Mainstream Speckle Park, and supplied some of those embryos to a partnership formed between Maungahina Stud and Waiorongomai Station, SPKNZ.
2008
The association was established in 2008 and the first Australian and New Zealand members joined that year.
Today
Now, there are thousands of Speckle Park in both New Zealand and Australia.