Back at the ranch house, wife Alice Koupal gets e-mails from the Angus Association with updated EPD stats on their cattle and downloads that to the Palm Pilot. She has data on 2,489 animals in the system now and can manage the information with a push of a button, rather than by pushing fenceclampstretcher a bunch of paper.Chore timeProducts that add an extra hand at chore time score big on the nation''s livestock farms. fenceclampstretcher and fenceclampstretcher ATV''s and skid steers add to the operation through their multipurpose value, producers say.Life gets easierFarm chores got a whole lot easier for Chad Willis (pictured above) two years ago with the purchase of a skid steer loader. "This is so much more useful than a tractor and loader," says Willis, who feeds dairy bull calves and raises crops near Willmar, Minnesota. "It''s handy and can get in tighter places; it''s just more maneuverable."

"Changing from conventional to an intensive grazing operation," is the biggest management change for Robert Cessac of Higbee, Missouri. "This has saved on hay and feed costs by 75%," he says. "I feed hay only from February 1 to maybe mid-March, depending on snowfall. And the cattle handle much easier and are more gentle. I can handle my cattle mostly by myself fenceclampstretcher now." Even relatively low-tech grazing systems depend on good technology. High-tensile electric fence, polywire, and solar electric fencers all get mention in the survey.Kim Klocke of Arlington, Iowa, likes his IntelliShock solar electric fencer made by Premier. He has had it four years and says it operates without a hitch. Klocke runs 75 stock cows and 80 ewes on 260 acres of grass and pasture.