Excitement building for Legends of the Future sale

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Hidden Valley Speckle Park has gone from strength to strength since Peter and Roz Alexander established the stud in 2017.

Mrs Alexander said they were drawn to the Speckle Park breeds' early sexual maturity, higher yield, excellent temperament, and in the lines they looked at, outstanding structure and milk.

"We truly believed it was an under-marketed breed for commercial producers and wanted to show through crossbreeding what hybrid vigour could add to a Bos Indicus animal," she said.

"Notably, eating quality is excellent and IMF is higher than most Indicus dominant breeds. It's an extremely adaptable breed, coping well with the heat of North Queensland, slicking right off in the summer while still thriving in snow and ice down in Tasmania."

To establish their Speckle Park stud herd the Alexanders initially bought a range of lines based mostly on phenotype, including Notta Ranch Speckle Parks, Six Star, Three Ways, Mount Eccles and Battalion Speckle Park.

"We focussed on sourcing proven sire and dam lines for fertility, milk, temperament and structure. We've since focussed on acquiring greater numbers of Canadian genetics and have substantially invested in the Notta Ranch Speckle Park program."

"Our foundation dams are arguably some of the best in the breed. Female lines are very important given the contribution they make to the calves that a breeder produces."

Fertility is paramount for the product the Alexanders are striving to create. As is temperament, milk in the females and ease of calving which ties into the animals structure.

"Moderate framed, easy fleshing animals with excellent udder structure in the females is key. Essentially we want to breed females that calve down unassisted, deliver a greater number of calves in their lifetime and have animals that can perform for the commercial producer adding value to their carcase weights."

Aside from Speckle Park, Hidden Valley Beef breed Brangus in Australia, hence the change of title for the business in 2021 to reflect the Alexander's broader breed interests.

Their herds are based in the Manning Valley, New South Wales, and in Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands in partnership with the Pearce family of Telpara Hills. The Alexanders also have a small show string, which they keep in the Lockyer Valley with Troy Nuttridge of TLC Fitting Services.

Internationally, the Alexanders have been running a Speckle Park herd in Montana, USA, for two years, as well as a Brangus herd in Texas. They also have a herd of Speckle Park and Canadian & Argentinian lines of Angus in Canada, which are cared for by the Goodfellow family of Notta Ranch, Saskatchewan.

"In 2018 we were granted Australian industry approved research and development status, to breed a high carcase, premium beef animal for commercial producers.

"We source select purebred Brangus and Speckle Park to crossbreed from our donor dams and sires.

"Our US, Canadian and Australian herds offer a large donor base for this program and we've amassed a great number of embryos for two control groups - the purebred Speckle Park and the purebred Brangus in addition to the unique first-crosses we've created.

"We'll move forward with a large recip program to breed many of these at the tail end of 2022."

She said the bulls have to be able to work so, larger scrotal circumference and perfect composition in addition to structure of the animal, particularly of feet, is very important to them.

"We like to breed deep sided bulls with a bit more carcase and clean underlines. We cull hard if an animal appears to be under par. With the R&D program we can't afford to breed anything that won't work in a commercial setting, purebred or first-cross included."

The Alexanders exhibit cattle in Queensland.

"Last year's show team were all sired by our co-owned bull and Champion of the World Speckle Park and Grand Champion Bull at Agribition, Notta 1B Hawkeye 444E.

"Hidden Valley Condor S3, our 12 month old bull, won Grand Champion British Breeds bull at Toogoolawah Show and Hidden Valley Ms Tsunami S4 won the 14 to 16 month class at The Ekka."

Mrs Alexander said they'll be bringing more Argentinian and Canadian Angus genetics in to kick off their Angus program in Australia.

"We're also focussing further on sourcing recips to breed a greater number of Brangus x Speckle park and for our R&D control herds in Brangus and Speckle Park."

The Alexanders will be showcasing their genetics at the inaugural Legends of the Future Speckle Park sale, being held in conjunction with BigWig Speckle Park, at their purpose-built sale and conference facilities at 183 Sunshine Road, Hillville, NSW, on Friday, November 11, from 2.30pm.

Guest vendors for the sale will include the Toebelle, KJ Speckle Park Hill, Everest, Bellara and Greenhaven studs, as well as US studs DAM Dots Ranch and McMurry Cattle.

In all 151 lots will be offered on the day, consisting of 46 live lots; 33 embryo lots; 77 semen lots; and three flushes.

Mrs Alexander said the name Legends of the Future was specifically chosen to reflect the caliber of animals and genetics being offered.

"Many of the semen and embryo packages are first release from exclusive Canadian genetics and the live animals are of excellent structure and offer other highly desirable attributes around milk and fertility.

"Many have a long list of proven, much sought-after sires and dams in each generation of their pedigrees. These aren't cull animals. Quite to the contrary each consignor has agreed to sell some of their very best to showcase the best of their breeding."

A number of the Hidden Valley animals and genetics are by Notta 110B Hot Topic 305E.

"He's our Canadian bull and is the sire of Notta Prime Time 312H who was CWA Junior Champion bull 2021 and Grand Champion bull at the Prince Albert show recently, which has now qualified for the supreme exhibit at Canadian Western 2022.

"His low birth weight calves keep impressing. They grow into phenomenal structured animals with top 1 per cent scrotal circumference in bulls and excellent udder sets in the females."

The Alexanders are also offering Battalion Stockade BAT M3 semen and embryos.

"He's our Australian herd sire and has really been impressing of late. He always lays down a consistent line of moderate framed, excellent temperament and well structured calves. He is a Stands Alone son, a proven sire for temperament, structure, IMF and a very popular bull."

Mrs Alexander said there has been interest shown in the sale from across Australia, US and Canada, particularly Speckle Park breeders who're looking to introduce new lines and improve their programmes.

"Commercial interest is primarily coming from Queensland and NSW. I think the appeal is the high quality of the sire and dam lines."

Inspection of the sale lots can be made via appointment with the vendors, or on the grounds from Thursday, November 10, from 2pm.

The gates to the selling complex will open from 7.30am on sale day, with a variety of activities being held in the lead-up to the sale.

At 9am there will be a drone display from XAG, which will be followed at 11am by a presentation from Jack Milbank, AgPro Technology, and Murray Olsson, Olsson industries, titled 'A good breeder is a good feeder'. A light lunch will be offered at 1pm, with a barbecue to follow post-sale from 6pm.

Those who're unable to attend the sale in person can bid online via the Elite Livestock Auctions and AuctionsPlus platforms.

The sale catalogue will be online from October 10, with pre-registration options available. It will appear the same day on the Elite Livestock Auctions and AuctionsPlus websites. Be sure to follow the sale on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

For enquiries please call sale agent Kempsey Stock and Land: Ian Argue, 0428 655 604, or Laurie Argue, 0439 240 916,

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