We have a lot of small dairies in Wisconsin "aging out" on milking and shifting to trying beef. The problem with many of these operations is that they treat beef cattle as they have dairy cattle for many years. Having 5 large dairy barns and trying to use them may be part of your problem

The dairy/beef, usually Holstein/Angus crosses just aren't really either one - they're not dairy nor are they true beef animals.  Many on here raise dairy bull calves and crosses but that is a very different business than either barn-based dairy or pasture-based beef. It seems to me that raising these dairy bull/steers and crosses is really an exercise in high volume corn and silage production.

I would look at what others on here are doing successfully and talk to people like Garvo in beef or one of the folks that raise crosses.

Personally I've seen a couple nearby dairies have the best success just selling all the Holsteins and starting over with pure beef breed. Often they convert some crop ground back to pasture. Cow/calf doesn't need dairy barns! Stockers or feedlots usually don't use dairy barn type structures either.

Starting over it takes a while to get back up to speed and maybe changing a mindset but beef seems to have a good future long term.

Just some observations from a retirement project beef guy.  Merry Christmas!