Skylar Gericke doesn’t use the term byproduct when he talks about calves anymore. As manager of Triple G Dairy in Arizona and co-founder of Legendairy Genetics, he’s learned to think about every pregnancy as uterine rent — and he’s determined to maximize the return on every single one.
“We’re trying to be as progressive as possible to increase the number of pregnancies that we’re creating,” Gerake shares on “The MILK Business Podcast.” “Nowadays it’s just more important to utilize that uterine rent.”
It’s a mindset shift that reflects one of the most dramatic economic transformations in modern dairy: the beef-on-dairy boom. When the U.S. beef herd collapsed to historic lows, dairy farmers found themselves sitting on an unexpected goldmine. Crossbred beef-on-dairy calves started commanding premium prices that often exceeded purebred beef cattle, and suddenly the calf that used to be a throwaway became one of the most valuable outputs leaving the dairy farm.
But here’s the question nobody really wants to ask out loud: What happens when the beef herd rebuilds? Is this a temporary windfall or a permanent shift in how dairy economics work?
Gericke is betting it’s permanent — but he’s not betting blindly.
The 50-50 Split: Playing Both Markets
Originally from Ohio, Gericke came to Arizona eight years ago and took over management of Triple G Dairy two years ago. Today, he’s breeding roughly 50% of the herd to beef — but that number isn’t static.
“If you were to talk to me about it three months ago, we were more of like a 30-70 split,” he says. “We were a majority beef-on-dairy. Those shifts are happening because we do a quarterly audit on our inventory. I want to make sure I have a consistent number of replacements coming in.”
But the audits aren’t just about replacement inventory. They’re about market timing.
“I kind of change that percentage depending on whether I think I’m going to get a higher premium on replacement sales or beef-on-dairy sales,” Gericke explains. “I like to play the game in both markets a little bit every quarter.”
It’s a sophisticated balancing act that requires constant monitoring of both dairy heifer markets and beef calf markets — and the discipline to adjust strategy based on data rather than emotion.
“We use our semen rep. They have the support to be able to go through an algorithm and just make sure we’re creating the right number of heifers nine months in advance,” he says. “By doing that, we’re able to keep the consistent number. We’re able to plan better, and we’re able to decide whether or not we want to attack the beef market or if we want to attack the replacement market.”
The Numbers That Changed Everything
For Triple G Dairy, beef calf revenue has become a financial cushion that makes everything else possible.
“I think that the beef calf revenue has definitely dampened the lows for us in lower markets,” Gericke says. “Between the DRP and LRP that we use, as well as the beef calves, it’s able to kind of extend the good prices a little bit longer to where we’re not worried about having to take out debt or anything like that to pay the bills.”
He estimates that milk still covers 80% to 85% of operating costs — but that remaining 15% to 20% from beef calves and other revenue streams is what separates survival from profitability.
“We’re able to continue the expansion that we had planned. We’re able to continue projects that are going to help us become more efficient and profitable, and it’s not making the cuts that you usually do when prices are lower,” he explains.
In other words, beef-on-dairy revenue isn’t just padding the bottom line — it’s enabling strategic investment that wouldn’t happen otherwise.
Genetics Strategy: Wagyu on Holsteins, Full Angus Embryos in Jerseys
Gericke’s approach to beef genetics is as strategic as his breeding percentages.
On the Holstein side of Triple G, he’s breeding exclusively to Wagyu through a contract with the buyer who picks up day-old calves.
“They want Wagyu calves. We supply them the Wagyu cross calves,” he says simply.
But the Jersey side of the operation — which includes both Triple G and LegenDairy Genetics — tells a different story.
“I found that it’s more profitable to put a full Angus embryo in a Jersey than it is to get the Charolais cross or Angus cross out of them,” Gericke explains. “I get paid a little bit more premium on actually using the embryo rather than going the cheaper route and doing the beef semen.”
It’s counterintuitive. Embryos cost more than semen. But the premium paid for a full-blood Angus calf born from a Jersey more than compensates for the additional investment.
“We’re just trying to figure out where we’re going to get the most premium, making sure that we’re still looking at conception rates, making sure that we’re still looking at calving ease,” he says. “What route is going to give us the most live calves to sell? That’s what we’re looking for.”
And like everything else in his operation, there’s a kill switch.
“I have a kill switch on everything I do,” Gericke says. “We have benchmark numbers. If we start to hit below those numbers consistently, then we hit the kill switch and we redirect and go from there.”
The Colostrum Equality Revolution
One of the most significant changes Gericke made — even before beef-on-dairy prices exploded — was eliminating the two-tier colostrum system that most dairies operated under.
“I think in the past the thought was we’re going to feed the lower quality colostrum to the bull calves, to the beef calves and the replacements will get the higher quality colostrum,” he says. “But even before the prices hit, we kind of changed that culture a little bit.”
Today, every calf — replacement heifer, beef cross, Holstein bull, Jersey bull — gets the same protocol.
“Whether we’re keeping it or not, we’re going to try and sell the best quality that we can provide,” Gericke explains. “Colostrum program, vaccine program, everything kind of stays the same. It also helps a little bit with the employees trying to keep that structure very simple for them, to where they don’t have to pick and choose different protocols for different animals.”
The buyer noticed.
“I asked them to check the blood serums,” Gericke says. “They all came out really good. They loved what they were getting.”
That quality consistency has built trust — and trust translates to premium pricing and long-term contracts.
Building Buyer Relationships: It’s Not Just a Transaction
All of Triple G’s calves ship out on day one after receiving minimum three feedings of colostrum. That includes replacement heifers, which go to a custom raiser.
The Wagyu calves, Jersey crosses and full Angus calves all go to one contracted buyer who determines final destination — California, Idaho or elsewhere.
“They provide me with the semen to breed my Holsteins to and I’m going to provide them with calves,” Gericke explains. “But to create the relationship with them to get to that point, they had that relationship for years even before I came about. But it grew more as they realized that we’re trying to make quality animals for them.”
The relationship isn’t transactional — it’s collaborative.
“I asked them what kind of bulls they wanted when we were getting our own semen. What kind of bulls do they want for better quality animals? When I’m getting beef embryos, what kind of embryo matches do you prefer more?” Gericke says. “That way they have a choice in what they’re going to get because I know that they’re going to be the ones that buy them in the end.”
That level of communication and collaboration creates differentiation in the commodity market — and differentiation creates premium pricing.
The LegenDairy Model: Field Testing for an Industry
Through his work with LegenDairy Genetics, Gericke is essentially field-testing strategies that other dairy producers can adopt.
“I’ve been the one to be the field test,” he says. “With the Jersey side, we’ve done a lot with the beef embryos on Jerseys to show that financially it does work.”
He’s even helped nearby operations implement the same strategies.
“There’s another entity that milks a mile away from us, and we did the embryo program with them, trying to provide a tech, allow them to put the beef embryos in their Jerseys, and be just as profitable as us,” Gericke explains.
His willingness to share data and results isn’t altruistic — it’s strategic. The more dairy producers successfully implement beef-on-dairy programs, the more the supply chain infrastructure develops, and the more sustainable premium pricing becomes.
“I’m just not afraid to share what I’m doing, if anybody asks,” he says.
Planning for the Inevitable: When Beef Prices Drop
Gericke isn’t naive about market cycles. He knows beef-on-dairy calf prices won’t stay at record highs forever.
“I try to be conservative. I try to be progressive at the same time,” he says. “Today’s prices are what we were planning for nine months ago. So, you look a little bit at futures and stuff like that. But really, what I try to watch is herd numbers. What does the beef herd look like? What does the dairy herd look like in the United States?”
His strategy for market volatility? Don’t build the business around peak prices.
“It’s the constant planning, at least quarterly, of making sure not only am I sufficing my needs on the dairy, whether that’s expansion or just staying the same milk numbers, but it’s making sure that we’re going to be profitable either way, no matter what calf we’re going to create,” Gericke explains.
That’s why he maintains the 50-50 split even as beef prices moderate.
“A year ago, I went gung-ho on the beef. Today, I’m kind of being a little bit more conservative and saying ‘Let’s start to make a few more replacement heifers because I think the premium is going to be better there,’” he says. “But that being said, I’m still doing 50-50 beef-on-dairy compared to replacements, so I’m still playing both markets.”
The Bottom Line: Uterine Rent Is Here to Stay
The beef-on-dairy boom transformed dairy economics — but Gericke’s approach suggests it’s not just about chasing today’s premium prices. It’s about fundamentally rethinking how dairy operations value every pregnancy, every calf and every output stream.
By treating beef-on-dairy calves with the same care as replacement heifers, by building collaborative relationships with buyers, by constantly auditing and adjusting breeding strategies based on market conditions, and by diversifying between beef and dairy genetics, Gericke has built a system that’s resilient regardless of where calf prices go.
“We’re going to be profitable either way, no matter what calf we’re going to create,” he says.
That’s not betting on beef-on-dairy. That’s building a business model around maximizing uterine rent — and that model works whether beef calves are worth $500 or $1,500.
The calf didn’t just save the farm. It changed how dairy producers think about every pregnancy. And that shift is permanent.
