1. You need a firmly packed base of dirt to place the hoops for minimal seepage.2. The biggest problem with hoops is treatment of individual animals. Struthers uses hinged sorting panels and walks through each barn daily to check for sick animals.3. homemade Quality bedding is a top priority. "We bought our own round baler because we treat cornstalks as a main crop now," says Struthers. baby & you post pregnancy energizing stretch bean stubble works, too, he says, but it is not quite as absorbent as cornstalks.4. "don''t skimp on bedding," says struthers. "if you think the pigs might need more bedding, they do."husbandry helpproducts that help with animal husbandry receive frequent mention in the survey. puller breeding and selection management products get special acclaim from producers.

feedstuffs fixproducers putting up hay and handling feedstuffs often cite a particular machine as a key to their success.bob minner, fallon, nevada, depends on quality baling equipment for commercial hay operation. "you have to keep up with changes in the machinery," minner homemade says. and quality equipment is key to producing dairy-quality hay for his customers, he says. good dairy test hay will bring $110 to $115, and he has received up to $117 a ton for some.minner shifted from small squares to big square scratching post bales eight years ago to meet the demand of local dairy operations. he operates a hesston 8450 self-propelled windrower and a hesston 4910 baler to cover about 6,000 acres a season. he double-rakes with a rotary machine for bigger windrows and to better dry the hay. the bales, measuring 8 feet long and weighing 1,750 to 2,300 pounds, are then picked up with a tractor-pulled puller bale wagon that hauls four bales at a time.

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 homemade as a top management change."a 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 passport services at post office it is. it is like baling with two balers."net wrap costs more up front," says puller mcconnell, "but it saves time, fuel, and wear and tear on our equipment."