New Holland. The Super Boom LS190 features a 83-hp, turbo diesel engine and 102-inch dump height. $33,613Gehl. The 7000 Series have a 3,600-pound load capacity, lift height of 12 feet, 14-mph fencepostcutter ground speed, and up to 110 hp. $46,400.John Deere. The 270 has a 102-Inch dump height, 77 net hp., and 2,800-pound lead capacity $32,039.Mustang. The 2105 features a lift height of 142 inches, lift capacity of 3,600 pounds, high-flow hydraulics, and 110 hp. Low $40,000s.Six picks: ATVsHonda is the favorite ATV of 37% of respondents. These models are good all-around farm ATVs:Honda. The FourTrax Foreman Rubicon features a 499-cc. longitudinally maunted engine and Hondamatic transmission. $6,999.

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 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 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 bale wagon that hauls four bales at a time.

"Changing from conventional to an intensive grazing operation," is the biggest management change for Robert Cessac of fencepostcutter Higbee, Missouri. "This has saved on hay and feed costs by 75%," fencepostcutter 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 now." Even relatively low-tech fencepostcutter 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.