Why Speckle Park? Podcast

14/08/2025

Thanks to Queensland Country Life for publishing this story about the Why Speckle Park? Podcast in last week's paper.

You can view a PDF of the story here: https://bit.ly/4fBMgXL

13/08/2025

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏𝟓: 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥 – 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐟 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭!

Scott Purcell and his fiancée, Tia, operate their paddock-to-plate business, Bonkonia Beef, based at Merton in north-east Victoria, and sell their beef in the local region and into Melbourne. The first generation farmers also market their beef at farmers’ markets, so receive regular feedback about their products. They have been selling Speckle Park beef for since November 2023, and have run their stud, Bonkonia Speckle Park since 2019, so they are well-placed to share about the market acceptance of Speckle Park beef.

Scott’s decision to go into Speckle Park came off the back of a BBQ at a friend’s house, where he tried Speckle Park beef. “It was hands down, probably the best steak I’d ever had – and I’d eaten a lot of steaks!” Since starting Bonkonia Beef, word-of-mouth marketing has been hugely successful for them, with their beef largely “selling itself”, together with Facebook, charity event donations, and farmers’ markets. Now, Scott regularly has customers come back to tell him their recent purchase from Bonkonia Beef was the best steak they had ever had! “I love getting customer feedback, and we have never had a single complaint, which is pretty special as well.”

Scott loves the versatility of the Speckle Park breed. “They’re so easy-doing – they look after us as much as we look after them. They’ve got a point of difference and most importantly, they have a story. It’s a story that’s worth telling and needs to be told. And obviously the beef is second to none.”

A question posed by Scott during this episode: what’s your ‘why’?

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening! You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Podbean.

17/07/2025

It’s not until you take a couple of weeks “off” from the podcast that we learn how much our listeners are enjoying it! WOW! Thank you all so much for reaching out!

Each episode of the podcast is taking about twice as long to produce as we had expected, so to ensure balance in life, we will drop back to a fortnightly new episode drop.

We have a great list of potential guests but would love to hear your suggestions!! They can be from anywhere in the world 🌍! They can be topics to discuss rather than name suggestions - the more the merrier! What or who would YOU like to listen to on an upcoming episode of the Why Speckle Park? Podcast?

Let’s get the conversation going in the comments, or feel free to message us privately with your suggestions.

08/07/2025

Apologies, but there will not be a Why Speckle Park? Podcast episode this week. Hope you have been enjoying the podcast so far!

01/07/2025

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏𝟒: 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 – 𝐀 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟏𝟓 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩

Robert Constable has been an award-winning butcher based in the NSW Hunter Valley for 34 years, and still operates his popular Robert's Meats butcher shop at Singleton. Robert has held leadership positions with the Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) for more than 20 years, and is the current Deputy Chair of the Board, and Chairman of the Retail Council. He is a Technical Advisor to the Board of MINTRAC, National Meat Industry Training Advisory Council. He is a multi Sausage King competition winner stemming back 30 years, and is the current Chairman of the World Butchers’ Challenge. Robert just got back from Paris, where he judged this global competition. He has worked with Speckle Park beef for more than 15 years, so has unique insights to share about the product.

Robert’s parents are Mark and Colleen Constable, who operate Ersyldene Speckle Park Stud and supply Speckle Park animals to their son’s butcher shop. Robert operated up to six butcher shops across the NSW Hunter Valley and another at Forster on the Mid North Coast. But he is now back with just the one butcher shop, and he likens this to “semi-retirement” by comparison (although he’s still flat out!). One of Robert’s biggest joys is mentoring his apprentices into confident operators themselves.

On Speckle Park, Robert’s answer to Amy’s signature podcast question, “Why Speckle Park?” is simple: why not? “I don’t think there’s anything better out there,” he says.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening! You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Podbean.

24/06/2025

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏𝟑: 𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝗪𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 – 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲

Tim Weller is the Marketing Manager of genetics company, World Wide Sires Australia , where he has worked for the past 12 years now. He and his wife, Lindy, also run their Wellerlou Speckle Park stud on their property at Coolamon in the Riverina region of south-west NSW. Tim has built his career around relationships and people – not just sales and numbers. Instead, it’s about moving forward together with customers in a win-win relationship. Tim was among a group of 10 individuals who started World Wide Sires in Australia in 2013, where he has been the Marketing Manager ever since.

In this podcast episode, Tim speaks about the positive role genomics has played in the dairy industry while also cautioning the need for raw data to be submitted to Breedplan to validate genomically-enhanced EBVs. Bringing in carcase data to Breedplan from large groups of commercial Speckle Park animals is one method Tim is lobbying to enhance EBV accuracies and validation.

Tim speaks about the power – and need – for strict culling in a stud program, and the need to bring in outside females from other studs, from time to time, to benchmark their own animals and not get “owners’ disease” – where stud owners think their animals are the “best” in the breed.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening! You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Podbean.


World Wide Sires Australia Beef

17/06/2025

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏𝟐: 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭 – 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝-𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐟 𝐢𝐬 “𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥”

Jake Furst is the talented Executive Chef of fine dining restaurant, Cinder, which is nestled within the bluestone walls of the 150-year-old Terminus Hotel in Fitzroy North, Melbourne. Jake won the prestigious AHA Victorian Chef of the Year Award in 2023, and you may have seen him interviewed for ABC Landline in March, in Tim Lee’s report about Speckle Park beef.

A key to Jake’s career success has been his commitment to never say ‘no’ to an opportunity, and thankfully that included answering the call from Speckle Park breeder, Paul Guy, Speckle Park Certified, to try Speckle Park beef in late-2024.

Jake’s first impression of trying Speckle Park beef – which originated from JAD Speckle Park - was the obvious lower melting point of the fat and then the “exceptional” flavour in the beef. It was some of the best eye fillet he’d ever had – a cut known for its tenderness but not so much for its flavour profile.

Jake says Speckle Park beef has got a good story and “it’s a really, really good product” – very rarely do those two elements line up. His chefs are “screaming out for more” Speckle Park beef.

“Everyone’s always after a good news story and to eat healthier, and to have options that are better for the environment, better for the farmers, better for the cows, better for everyone,” he says. “There aren’t many products on the market that tick the boxes that Speckle Park are ticking.”

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening! You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Podbean.

16/06/2025

Great to see where around the world listeners of the Why Speckle Park? Podcast reside...

11/06/2025

Our very first episode of the Why Speckle Park? Podcast is just two downloads off hitting the 1000 mark! Have you listened to the first episode yet? What did you enjoy about it?

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏: 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐀𝐃 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤

Justin Dickens was raised at Wanaaring in Far West NSW and then Coolah in Central West NSW, before embarking on a career in livestock production and farm management. As the "J" in JAD, Justin shares his story and his answer to the all-important question, Why Speckle Park?

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening!

JAD Speckle Park

Podcast Episode · Why Speckle Park? · 25/03/2025 · 38m

10/06/2025

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏𝟏: 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐇𝐨𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐧 – 𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭'𝐬 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤

Andrew Hosken operates his agribusiness sales and consultancy, Hosken Stock & Land from Tamworth in northern NSW. He has had an extensive career as a livestock agent spanning 40 years, across eastern Australia. This included over 25 years at Elders, where he finished as the zone livestock manager covering northern NSW, Queensland, and the top end of the Northern Territory. One of Andrew’s major clients is Minnamurra Pastoral Company, the home of Minnamurra Speckle Park at Coolah in Central West NSW.

When Minnamurra first went into Speckle Park – back in 2011 - Andrew was a typical sceptic. But then they won their first carcase feedback competition, then their second. “When it got to the 5th, 6th or 7th time that they won an award in just about everything that they had entered, I thought well OK, there is something inherently in these cattle,” he says. “And it’s gone on from there… There is something inherently good about the performance of Speckle Park.”

“I think you will find the Speckles have a very strong place in the industry,” he says. “I don’t think there’s any feedlot or any abattoir we’ve sent (Speckle Park) stock to that haven’t wanted to buy them again… We’ve had a number of abattoirs and feedlots across all states put forward various comments about the consistency and the quality of the cattle that come in from Minnamurra. Now, that to me says a fair bit. There’s definitely a place for the Speckle cattle.

Andrew talks about consistency of Speckle Park cattle a lot in this episode. He says their carcase data is “consistently very, very good”, regardless of where the cattle have been processed, or breed composition in a cross with Speckle Park sires. As the breed increases in volume, so too will its broader awareness and appreciation by our commercial beef industry.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening! You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Podbean.

03/06/2025

We’re proud to have launched our 10th episode of the Why Speckle Park? Podcast!!! 🎉

The podcast has been downloaded 4166 times, and counting, having only launched two month ago! The very first episode, with Justin Dickens, is about to notch up 1000 downloads!

We hope you are enjoying the podcast and if so, we would greatly appreciate if you would please share it with your friends and colleagues, and leave a review as that helps to spread the speckle word!

03/06/2025

𝐒𝟏 𝐄𝐩𝟏𝟎: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐜𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐢𝐞 - 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐙𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝'𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫, 𝟏𝟕 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐧

Mark McKenzie is a pioneer of the Speckle Park breed in New Zealand, teaming up with a colleague to import the breed into the land of the long white cloud, back in 2008. Adding Speckle Park to the long-running and well-respected Maungahina Stud prefix no doubt raised a few eyebrows among staunch Hereford breeders, with Maungahina having over a century of renown in the whiteface breed. But alas, Mark pushed forward with introducing Speckle Park to New Zealand, and he has worked hard in the years since to refine the breed to suit his conditions and industry demands.

Mark is the fifth generation McKenzie at Maungahina, near Masterton at the bottom of the north island. He operates the property with his father, Bruce, wife, Melissa, and their daughter, Molly, has recently joined the family business as the sixth McKenzie at Maungahina!

Mark has always taken a ruthless approach to culling, leaving him with a Speckle Park herd he is proud of. With the rise of the Speckle Beef meat brand in New Zealand, Mark sees a very bright future ahead for the breed – as long as the right animals are produced, with the right genetic merit.

If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening! You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or Podbean.