Is the Speckle Park breed the next big thing as steaks sizzle for $350?

Does the Speckle Park cattle breed deserve a spot alongside the Angus and Hereford in the commercial beef job?

As far as some Melbourne restaurants are concerned, they certainly do, with steak prices on par with some of the best Wagyu the city has to offer.

Cinder Restaurant in Melbourne has recently been selling dry-aged steaks from Speckle Park cattle for up to $350 a piece and customers keep coming back for more.

Victorian farmers breeding the cattle feel it is about time the breed's traits, including their excellent carcase, get the recognition they deserve.

All agreed that since the breed first landed in Australia in 2007, it has been subject to arguably poor breeding by some who fancied the cattle for their unusual appearance rather than their productivity.

Solid initial commercial interest in the breed through the mid-2010s quickly faded away, and numbers fell back through 2020.

But now, breeders feel with performance data in hand and careful genetic selection, they can once again drive the breed into beef popularity.

"They attracted a lot of people who weren't experienced cattle people," Paul Guy, Te Mooi Speckle Park, Londrigan, said.

"There's no getting around the fact that they're an attractive cattle [breed] but if you haven't got the basic things right, you're not going to be a profitable beef system.

"It's taken some time to get there but we're getting there now."

Mr Guy runs 150 Speckle Park stud breeders and followers and partners with commercial clients to trial his bulls' progeny.

Through the project, about 1500 breeders are joined with Te Mooi bulls each year, including mobs of Angus cows.

The Speckle Park steers and heifers from these herds are performance recorded and Mr Guy and his fellow farmers were now marketing them to high-end restaurants.

"We're just about to launch our direct-to-supply business," he said.

"The reaction has been spectacular."

Mr Guy was adamant that the main attribute of the breed was its eating quality.

He said much of the Australian cattle industry had focused on improving intramuscular fat for the past 20 years but there was more to tasty beef than this trait.

"All beef is not the same," he said.

"We need to talk about beef like we talk about wine.

"Beef is nuanced like that."

Mr Guy said fatty acid composition in beef was equally important when it came to taste and customer satisfaction.

"Speckle Parks have a different fatty acid composition to other breeds so [the beef] tastes different," he said.

"The eating quality just shines through."

He said this was one of the reasons Speckle Park beef remained more succulent and juicy when cooked.

"It delivers unbelievable flavour," he said.

Andrew and Denita Donnon, Willangie, run 50 Speckle Park stud breeders and 100 commercial cows at their Anden Speckle Park stud, Swan Hill.

Mr Donnon got into the breed in 2019 after a friend gifted him some of the beef off a Speckle Park/Angus steer.

"It was that good, I thought 'I better eat these things'," he said.

He now supplies Speckle Park beef to neighbours, family and friends and is working to build out the paddock-to-plate operation.

"We've found the pedigree ones we've done even better eating," he said.

He said his customers "can't get enough".

"They just want more and more," he said.

Mr Donnon said the breed were also excellent feed converters and the cattle were very docile.

Scotty Purcell, Bonkonia Speckle Park, Merton, said the breed's ability to convert less feed into more beef was its biggest strength.

Mr Purcell runs 80 of the colourful beasts on 40 hectares of his own land and a further 120ha of leased country alongside his partner Tia Smith.

He said the Speckle Park "goes above and beyond for feed conversion", insisting that they outperform any other beef breed in this way.

"They can perform off far less feed," he said.

He said while Angus cattle may deliver on liveweight, when both breeds were killed side by side, there was more meat in the Speckle Park carcase.

"I think if you look a bit deeper into the equation, you'll find they have more saleable meat," he said.

"They're more profitable for the butcher."

He said the high killout percentage was down to the Speckle Park's lighter bone, compared to other breeds.

Mr Guy claimed the breed was 20 per cent more feed efficient than others such as the Angus.

"We've found that time and time again," he said.

He said his commercial clients were feeding a third less feed to Speckle Park cows in dry conditions, compared to Angus cows.

"Speckle Park fit into modern beef production because we can produce beef more sustainably," he said.

"We can finish them earlier."

Mr Purcell the breed was finally on track to grow in numbers as the "right people" were now breeding them.

"They're probably going to start getting a lot more attention," he said.