Could Speckle Park Cattle Help ‘Meat’ Changing Consumer Needs

Across the entire beef industry, Speckle Park cattle are making some real waves.

Thanks to tailored genetics and breeding, these attractive looking animals are built to produce beef of a superior quality, in line with the changing needs of the consumer. More focused as they are on sustainable, healthier, high quality meat, consumers are dictating what type of cattle farmers are choosing to raise.

With speckle park cattle in Canada able to produce beef of an elite standard, it’s perhaps little wonder why they’ve become more popular with farmers across Canada and other countries of the world, too.

Let’s take a closer look at consumer demands in the beef industry:

Modern beef consumers; what do they really want?
Domestically and internationally, consumers are demanding meat with a higher eating quality, portion sizes that are appropriate, and a product that is healthier in general.

• Why it’s no longer all about marbling

  While marbling still has an important role to play in determining the quality of a cut of meat, fatty acid composition, fat melting point, and muscle fibre structure are proven to be equally as necessary.

  Quality standards have been somewhat distorted in recent years, and with an emphasis on intramuscular fat, farmers have long been breeding animals that are heavier and fatter. However, this may no longer meet consumer demand.

  Speckle Park cattle produce cuts of beef that excel in all of the areas now considered important to consumers, making them a profitable, tasty choice.

• Achieving the perfect portion-size balance

  Favouring flavour and tenderness over size, chefs and modern consumers alike are consistently choosing thick-cut steaks over bigger, thinner ones. According to chefs, the perfect thickness of a deliciously juicy steak, is 1.5 inches; thinner cuts simply can’t deliver on this in the same way.

  Unfortunately, when a carcass is bigger than 450kg, large, individual cuts become too expensive and too hard to serve with consistency. 280kg carcasses on the other hand, yield 35mm sirloin steaks that are between 300 and 350g; perfection for consumers and chefs.

  When talking about food service in relation to Speckle Park cattle, breeding cows in which the right sized cuts can be taken, is good for profits.

• The surge in grass-fed cattle

  With its reduced impact on the environment, more and more consumers are opting for beef from grass-fed cattle, but it isn’t only about sustainability. Grass-fed steaks taste better, and have more nutritional advantages too.

  A shift that can clearly be seen in domestic and export markets, grass-fed beef fetches a tidy 40% price premium. Ultimately, the quality of a steak is now being judged less on its grain finishing, and more on genetics and the way in which the cattle are raised.

  Fortunately, these aesthetically pleasing beasts are ideal for grass systems – whether it be grass-fed or grass-finished – and with consumer demand in mind, more farmers are looking for speckle park cattle for sale.

With their moderate size and pattern of early maturity, speckle park cattle reach peak condition in a far more efficient manner than other breeds, and without too much fat. Producing a level of tenderness not seen in all cuts of meat, the composition of their muscle fibre coupled with a fatty acid profile that’s favourable, also produces great flavour without long periods of feeding or extreme marbling.

If you’re a cattle farmer who values efficiency, eating quality and sustainability above all else, a herd of speckle park cattle could give you and the consumer, exactly what you’re both looking for.