Cow comfortCow comfort was the goal when Terry Timmons (pictured below) built a new free stall barn on his dairy farm near Loudonville, Ohio. Timmons and his father milk 200 head of registered Holsteins. Larger stalls with more "lunge space" in the front help their cows get up and down easier now, says Timmons. Their old barn, built in the 1970s, had small stalls that were closed fencing in the front. The new stalls were made locally by Stein-Way Equipment in Apple Creek, Ohio. The bedding is sand.The barn was built in August 2001 for $500 a stall, including electricity and water. Timmons says the investment has already paid off in better cow health.

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 brake bleeder tool check for sick animals.3. quality bedding is a top priority. "we bought our own round baler because we treat cornstalks as a main crop now," says struthers. 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 fencing husbandry receive frequent mention in the survey. breeding and selection management products get special acclaim from producers.

"i like polaris because of the automatic transmission. switching mechanics hand tool gears fencing makes moving cattle hard when you are switching pliers hand tool from 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and then back down to reverse," says green. "polaris just goes from low or high range to reverse."the atv accessory green can''t fencing live without is a mesh rack for hauling fencing equipment. the racks are made by moose utility division and cost tool about $125.atvs can replace both pickups and leg work, producers say. "the use of a honda four-wheeler vs. my truck has saved big dollars," writes brad leonard, holt, missouri. kim queen, old fort, tennessee, says buying a second atv was a key management change, because "one of us always had to walk to the corral and check cattle."