Beef x Dairy.

Done Better.

The industry’s first full‑circle beef x dairy program.

FeedWise™ ONYX™ is the complete solution that gives you peace of mind and guarantees profitability.

  • Semen is optimized for your breed of cows. Never worry about choosing the right beef bull again.
  • Creates low birthweight calves that are vigorous, alert, and active at birth. Easy on your cows and your maternity pen team.
  • Every calf created from FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen has a guaranteed buyer. Giving you peace of mind from the start.
  • Enjoy high conception rates. Expect fertility rates consistent with or above other beef semen.
  • Resulting calves have a high potential for excellent marbling and cutability. A uniform and quality product desired by processors.
  • Receive fair market value for every FeedWise™ ONYX™ calf and a premium above that price! Now that’s guaranteed profitability.

The industry’s first full‑circle beef x dairy program.

FeedWise™ ONYX™ is the complete solution that gives you peace of mind and guarantees profitability.

beef x dairy graphic

Easy-Use High‑Quality Beef Semen

  • Semen is optimized for your breed of cows. Never worry about choosing the right beef bull again.
  • Enjoy high conception rates. Expect fertility rates consistent with or above other beef semen.
beef x dairy grpahic

Elite Calf Performance

  • Creates low birthweight calves that are vigorous, alert, and active at birth. Easy on your cows and your maternity pen team.
  • Resulting calves have a high potential for excellent marbling and cutability. A uniform and quality product desired by processors.
beef x dairy graphic

Guaranteed Profitability

  • Every calf created from FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen has a guaranteed buyer. Giving you peace of mind from the start.
  • Receive full market price for every FeedWise™ ONYX™ calf and a premium above that price! Now that’s guaranteed profitability.

How Does It Work?

beef x dairy graphic

How Does It Work?

Complete FeedWise™ and ONYX™ program contracts.

Receive and use FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen from Alta.

Use the provided RFID tag on the calf once it is born.

A GK Jim Farms regional representative will pick up calves created from FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen.

Receive payment for the calf from GK Jim Farms at fair market value.

Collect your premium bonus above fair market value from Alta in the form of an account credit.

Learn More

What is FeedWise™ ONYX™

Why are Stabilizers ideal for use on dairy females?

Why sell beef x dairy calves at a day old?

What is the Leachman Stabilizer?

Making Beef Semen Selection Simple

Lock in your PREMIUM BONUS here!

Fill out this form to be connected to an Alta advisor to learn more and enroll in the program.

Frequently Asked Questions

FeedWise™, available through Alta Genetics, gives you access to exclusive Leachman Stabilizer™ semen. Every calf created from FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen has a guaranteed buyer at the time of purchase.

ONYX™ is a contractual agreement between you and GK Jim Farms, a premier calf buyer and cattle feeding organization. ONYX™ guarantees you fair market value and a premium above that price for every Stabilizer‑sired calf produced from FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen.

FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen allows you to generate the best market beef cross calves possible to drive profit on your operation and throughout the value chain.

To create the highest quality beef x dairy calves, FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen is a targeted terminal cross selected ondata to maximize profit based on the breed of dairy cow you are mating. There are three categories of FeedWise™ ONYX™ semen available in the U.S.:

  • ONYX™ BLEND 1 HO – genetically optimized for use on Holsteins, focusing on marbling and muscling and less emphasis on frame score.
  • ONYX™ BLEND 2 JE – genetically optimized for use on Jerseys, focusing on above average carcass weights, greater than average daily gain, and more frame score.
  • ONYX™ BLEND 3 HO/JE – genetically optimized for use on Holstein/Jersey crossbred cattle, focusing on a combination of the aforementioned traits.

Each of these blends come in options for use on heifers or cows.

First designed in the 1970s by USDA ARS scientists as the Marc II composite, Leachman Cattle of Colorado has been developing their own proprietary line of Stabilizer genetics for more than 30 years. These cattle are made up of British and Continental breeds, including Angus, Red Angus, Simmental, Gelbvieh, and South Devon.

As a multi-breed composite, the Stabilizer’s combination of muscle and marbling is unique in the industry as they marble far better than Continental breeds and have muscling and yield superior to Angus. They are known for having improved feed conversion rates, higher fertility, increased longevity, and hybrid vigor that makes them more resilient.

With more than 30 years of breeding, Stabilizer cattle now have an average pedigree depth of 12 generations. Leachman Cattle alone breeds more than 10,000 cows per year, which would rank Stabilizers among the top 10 breeds in the U.S. Data has been collected and analyzed on more than 1.4 million animals with an annual contribution of more than 30,000 animal records per year.

Stabilizer genetics deliver key economically important traits for producing beef x dairy calves:

  • CALVING EASE – Stabilizers are designed to deliver lower birth weight calves, helping to ensure an easy calving.

 

  • GESTATION LENGTH – Stabilizers generally have a 2-day shorter gestation length than most common beef breeds, which means your cows calve and start their lactation earlier.

 

  • CONCEPTION – Stabilizers have high conception rates that are consistent with or above other beef sires.

 

  • CALF HEALTH – Stabilizers create healthy, vigorous calves. The Stabilizer influence drives calves to get up fast and be active and alert, which ensures the calves get off to a good start.

Crossing dairy females with Stabilizer bulls delivers calves with a round muscle pattern through the hind quarters and high potential for excellent marbling and cutability, making them more desirable to buyers and processors.

 

  • PRECISION MATINGS – Different Stabilizer bull lines are selected for specific use on Holsteins, Jerseys, and Holstein/Jersey crosses to make the ideal Stabilizer x dairy calf.

 

  • FEED EFFICIENCY – Stabilizer cattle are developed with a focus on reducing feed intake and increasing feed efficiency. Genetic heritability is high for traits associated with feed intake, which makes Stabilizer x dairy calves ideal.

 

  • MARBLING – Stabilizer cattle have the ability to marble extremely well, resulting in higher quality grades.

 

  • HEALTH – Right from birth, Stabilizer cattle are vigorous and known for their ability to adapt and thrive in a variety of conditions.