The Speckle Park beef cattle breed is rising through the ranks in the Australian cattle industry but many still don’t know why. Claim a front row seat and join two of the breed’s largest stud and commercial Speckle Park breeders, Amy and Justin Dickens, JAD Speckle Park, as they share the stories of those who have elevated Speckle Park to success, and what the future looks like for the breed and its stakeholders.
S2 Ep1: Greg Ebbeck – From Importing the Very First Speckle Park Genetics into Australia, Big Things Grew.
Greg Ebbeck is a third-generation cattleman from the NSW Southern Highlands, with over 50 years experience breeding seedstock cattle on his Six Star Speckle Park property at Bundanoon. The former renowned Hereford stud breeder first came across the Speckle Park breed in Canada back in the early 2000s.
He imported the first Speckle Park embryos and semen to Australia, was involved in establishing the breed society for Australia and New Zealand, and used various means to help market the new breed on Aussie soil. Greg has bred and exhibited hundreds of champion cattle at major livestock shows and carcase competitions here and overseas, and he has exported and imported genetics and live cattle to all parts of the globe. Greg is a highly-regarded international judge of beef cattle and has had a lifelong passion for the development of beef cattle genetics.
Greg shares his story of introducing the Speckle Park breed to Australia, the trials and tribulations of those early years, and what he views as the breed’s biggest attributes. It’s all about the meat!
“It’s the best steak in the world. We had so many times where we did taste tests. It didn’t matter where we went, people would say, ‘that is the best piece of steak I’ve ever eaten.’”
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13 Aug 2025
S1 Ep15: Scott Purcell – Repeat Customers Say Speckle Park Beef is The Best!
Scott Purcell, owner of Bonkonia Beef, shares with host [Host Name] why Speckle Park beef earns repeat customers and rave reviews for its exceptional taste and versatility.
1 Jul 2025
S1 Ep14: Robert Constable – A Speckle Park Butcher for More Than 15 Years, and Not About to Stop
Butcher Robert Constable discusses his 15 years of experience with Speckle Park beef, highlighting its superior quality and his passion for mentoring young butchers in this interview.
24 Jun 2025
S1 Ep13: Tim Weller – Speckle Park Breeder Shares His Experiences with the Breed, and Industry
Speckle Park breeder Tim Weller shares his experiences with the Speckle Park breed and the industry, discussing genomics, data validation, and culling practices in this interview episode.
17 Jun 2025
S1 Ep12: Jake Furst – Award-Winning Fine Dining Chef Who Says Speckle Park Beef is “Exceptional”
Award-winning chef Jake Furst describes his experience with Speckle Park beef, highlighting its exceptional flavor and the positive impact it has on the environment, farmers, and consumers in this interview.
10 Jun 2025
S1 Ep11: Andrew Hosken – A Livestock Agent's View of Speckle Park
Livestock agent Andrew Hosken shares his evolving perspective on Speckle Park cattle, highlighting their consistent carcass quality and growing industry presence in an interview.
3 Jun 2025
S1 Ep10: Mark McKenzie - New Zealand's Speckle Park Pioneer, 17 Years On
Mark McKenzie discusses pioneering the Speckle Park breed in New Zealand, refining it for local conditions and industry demands, and foresees a bright future with the rise of Speckle Beef in this interview episode.
27 May 2025
S1 Ep9: Dwight Wyatt - Why the Dairy Industry Appreciates Speckle Park
Dwight Wyatt explains why the dairy industry appreciates Speckle Park cattle, drawing from his extensive experience in artificial breeding services, in this interview episode.
20 May 2025
S1 Ep8: Geoff Jones – The Butcher Shop Owner Whose Customers Crave Speckle Park Beef
Geoff Jones and his wife, Toni-Ann, own three butcher shops at Grafton, in North East NSW, and nearby Wooli. They also market their meat products at the Yamba Farmers’ Markets. They have been selling Speckle Park beef for eight years, so are well-placed to share about its market acceptance, and just how much butchers enjoy working with Speckle Park.
Geoff’s family was among the first to introduce bos indicus cattle to the Grafton district, so he is used to operating outside of the status quo. Geoff was initially attracted to Speckle Park after reading about their flat-boning characteristics, and it is the consistent tenderness of Speckle Park beef that keeps his customers back for more!
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29 Apr 2025
S1 Ep7: Dennis Power – Speckle Park Tick the Boxes for Commercial Relevance
Dennis Power is General Manager of one of the largest Speckle Park stud and commercial herds in the world, Minnamurra Speckle Park. Based at Coolah in Central West NSW, Minnamurra Speckle Park has played a pivotal role in demonstrating the commercial relevance of the Speckle Park breed, winning various feedback trials and carcase competitions. Not once, or twice, but many times – dating back as far as 2013.
The consistently outstanding performance of Minnamurra Speckle Park cattle in these competitions has gone a long way to proving that the Speckle Park breed is no fad, but is instead a breed with true commercial merit – and it is justifiably here to stay.
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22 Apr 2025
S1 Ep6: Gerald Wyatt – Old School Cowboy Logic Identifies Speckle Strengths
Gerald Wyatt has had an extensive career, from farming in Tasmania to assessing cattle across the eastern seaboard through his business, Classic Livestock Management Services. Now in his late 70s, Gerald has spent decades analysing traits in livestock that can indicate important fertility, temperament, health and eating quality characteristics. From ear wax to scaliness of tail hair, jawbone and rib structure and even positioning of hair swirls, these seemingly irrelevant characteristics can tell you so much about your livestock.
The consistency and femininity of the Speckle Park heifers that Gerald has assessed has really impressed him, especially given the breed’s infancy. The escutcheons – or milk lines - on a mob of heifers averaged 2 in his grading scale, which is “as good as it gets”.
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15 Apr 2025
S1 Ep5 – Simon Eriksen – the NZ Speckle Beef Boss with Global Goals
Simon Eriksen has been in the meat marketing and distribution business for nearly 25 years, having founded Neat Meat in 2001. Today, when he’s out to dinner with friends and associates, the conversation generally heads straight to Speckle Beef, a Speckle Park beef brand founded by the New Zealand company and now served at more than 100 restaurants, premium butchers, and in the midst of heading abroad. Consistent excellence in the Speckle Beef product has chefs craving more - it's consistently tender, with a beautiful natural flavour.
This episode shares Simon's own fascinating career story, while also detailing the evolution of the highly successful Speckle Beef brand. Something tells us this brand is only just getting wound up!
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8 Apr 2025
S1 Ep4: Nicky Reeves - Enlisting New Speckle Park Beef Fans, One Mouthful at a Time
Back in around 2016, Nicky Reeves hadn’t even seen or heard about Speckle Park cattle when she first tasted Speckle Park beef. Further research quickly evolved into a newfound passion for the breed.
What better way to market their Speckle Park cattle and beef than to establish the Maffco Brewery and Distillery, incorporating Speckle Park beef into the restaurant menu.
But let’s not forget their Benbullen Speckle Park stud, Benbullen Speckle Park direct beef sales arm, livestock transport business, and they also host the annual Maffco Pitmaster Barbecue Competition and Festival!
To say Nicky is a busy woman really is an understatement, but direct feedback from happy customers about their experience eating Speckle Park beef spurs her on. The former livestock agent and her partner, Lashay Tricker, have built a phenomenal business that incorporates several of their family members.
This is a great story about relationships, determination to succeed, family, and a deep-seated belief in Speckle Park cattle and beef.
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1 Apr 2025
S1 Ep3: Paul Guy - Tantalising Tastebuds with Speckle Park Certified Beef
Paul Guy began his journey in the Speckle Park breed through his stud, Te Mooi Speckle Park, based at Londrigan in Victoria. Currently, his focus is far further down the supply chain, working with leading restaurant chefs in Melbourne to get his Speckle Park Certified beef brand up and running.
He is a data man at heart, and his solid understanding around the role of data in producing a quality product for the consumer is core to the path he is walking now - ultimately delivering an outstanding eating experience of Speckle Park beef for the consumer.
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27 Mar 2025
S1 Ep2: Dick Whale - A Career Built on Finding the Finest
Renowned beef consultant, Dick Whale, has run his business, Independent Breeding & Marketing Services (IBMS), for more than 20 years, and prior to that managed Trangie Research Station, a feedlot, worked at Elders in marketing, and spent time studying meat science in the United States. Dick shares his wealth of experience in this episode. He sheds light on his concerns about the current state of the Australian beef industry, and where he sees it a decade from now. If you enjoy this episode, please share it among your network, and leave a review. Thanks for listening!
25 Mar 2025
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!
Who has been a guest on Why Speckle Park?
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Scott Purcell
Robert Constable
Tim Weller
Jake Furst
Andrew Hosken
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YouTube views
232,935
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
2 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
12 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 41 / 100
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Quality
35
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
32
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