In the palm of his handUntil recently, when a prospective buyer would come to the Koupal Angus ranch near Dante, South hiredhandfencestretcher Dakota, to look at bulls, hiredhandfencestretcher La Vern Koupal (pictured at far left) would grab a thick hiredhandfencestretcher stack of records and carry them out to the rolling pastures. "I''d be digging through the papers, and the wind would be flipping the pages, and I could never find the right page," says Koupal.Now he takes his $850 Palm Pilot Out of his coat pocket, writes in a bull number, and instantly gets all the production and bloodline information he and the buyer need. "It''s unreal what this technology can do," he says.

The setup lets him cover about 100 acres a day, "if you really stay after it and the conditions are right."Hay wraps save timeHay wrapping equipment is mentioned by several producers as a top management change."A hiredhandfencestretcher 12-foot discbine has reduced our cutting time in the hay field'' says Keith McConnell, Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. "The best thing, though, is the new 648 baler we bought last year with the net wrap. I can''t believe how fast it is. It is like baling with two balers."Net wrap costs more up front," says McConnell, "but it saves time, fuel, and wear and tear on our equipment."