Far North Queensland studstock producers Bill and Anne Cover don't do anything in halves.
At a time when they should be enjoying the fruits of their working lives, the couple has, instead, embarked on a new challenge, establishing a boutique beef cattle stud for a relatively new breed to the tropics.
The Covers are no strangers to the land nor are they adverse to taking a risk.
Eager to give their children the same rural upbringing they both enjoyed, Bill and Anne established a mixed cropping and cattle operation on 1618 hectares at Glenmorgan, on Queensland's Western Downs.
Buoyed by their success at Glenmorgan but wanting a more secure water supply, the Covers shifted their agriculture operation and family to 16,187 ha on the Bogan River at Nyngan, central NSW.
"We were growing our own grain and supplement feeding home bred cattle," Mrs Cover said.
"Doing it on a larger scale was an attractive option, with a bigger property providing more room for breeders with good access to water."
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With the new property located on a floodplain, the Covers water issues took on a whole new meaning.
"We were there a month and had our first flood," Mrs Cover said. "We had to row the boat to get into and out of the property."
Facing an uphill battle to afford to send four children to boarding school in Brisbane (the two eldest were already enrolled), they made the ultimate sacrifice, swapping life on the land to suburbia.
They lived in Brisbane for the next two decades, where Bill worked as a security guard and IT network administrator, before embarking on a new career as a carpenter and establishing his own business.
Anne put her administrative skills to good use, culminating with a successful 18-year career as executive officer for the Australian Cattle Vets. She also ran the international program at Beef Australia 2018.
When retirement arrived, the couple settled on the Atherton Tablelands - having visited during Mrs Cover's tenure with Beef Australia - and an opportunity to return to the industry they both loved so much.
"When we came up here I wanted Brangus females and Speckle Park bulls," Mrs Cover said. "That would have been the northern version of what we were doing previously and probably better.
"But we couldn't find Brangus cows and neither could we find a Speckle Park bull."
During a visit to the weekly Mareeba Store Sales, the Covers purchased a black Speckle Park cow with speckled calf at foot, and connected with the animal breeder at Butchers Creek.
In the time since, they have established Beki Speckle Park overlooking the picturesque Lake Tinaroo, initially buying two old stud cows from Tableland Speckle Park breeders Steve and Odette Plozza, and a bull from Toowoomba.
While the breed's unique look piques interest, it's the value that lies underneath that is a potential game changer in the Far North.
"The end goal is to breed sires to put over tropical females for high growth rate and high meat value; that's the aim - it's the carcase that counts," Mr Cover said.
"Once you take the skin off, it's the meat that matters.
"We are all in the business of the meat industry. When the skin comes off, Speckle Park animals produce an excellent carcase.
"The meat is high quality and growth rate is great."
The response from the market has been overwhelming, with 300 people filing through the gates at the stud's first appearance in the successful Tablelands Better Beef Open Day last year.
"Our biggest market by far is commercial Brahman producers looking to put faster growth rate, early maturing and a better quality carcase into their commercial Brahman herds," Mr Cover said.
Despite a lifetime in beef, the Covers are learning as they go about the breed - market preferences and the value of embryo transfers, particularly establishing a Bos Taurus stud in a tick area.
"The local market wants the speckly coated Speckle Park animals," Mrs Cover said. "There is some resistance to the black Speckle Park as they are hard to distinguish from Angus.
"There are some markets that black cattle are hot in and some markets that black cattle are undesirable, and the latter applies to the Speckle Park breed, at least in Far North Queensland."
While surprised at the success of the boutique stud, the couple remain grounded, approaching the new adventure much the same as they have done before.
"We saw a gap in the market and have moved to fill it," Mrs Cover said.
"We believe that Speckle Park cattle can become a significant player in the beef industry long term as they certainly have a lot to offer particularly as a terminal sire in commercial herds."
