Heat detection a hot topicSeveral producers cite heat detection systems as a top management change. Richard Schaefer, Evansville, Illinois, recently purchased Heat-Watch, a computerized heat detection system, to monitor his dairy herd. "It really saves me a lot of time, because I no longer have to visually catch the cows in heat," he says.James Reed, Esbon, Kansas, writes that the HeatWatch Estrus detection system and the Real McCoy Ultrasound scanner "have vastly improved my reproduction program."Keep ''em movin''Good animal husbandry isn''t possible without good products to handle and move livestock. Twenty-two brands of trailers are cited by producers in their product reviews, making this the category with the most number of brands mentioned. The top six are listed fencingtool on page 34. New cattle-handling equipment can be a real time and labor saver, ranchers say.

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 a bunch of paper.Chore timeProducts that add an extra hand at chore time score big on the nation''s livestock farms. 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. fencingtool "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."

Willis bought the Bobcat and attachments used from his local dealer for about $11,000. Money fencingtool well spent, he says. He uses it to move pallets of feed, move calf huts, and clean the barn. The green box shown in the photo above is actually a hog hauler Willis picked up at a local auction. It will hold four calves on the front fencingtool of the skid steer when it comes time to move them from huts to the barn for weaning and processing. His older barn has been remodeled, and the skid steer slides perfectly down the aisles and into the pens for cleaning. Anything bigger wouldn''t fit, says Willis.Some producers cite purchase of a skid steer as their best recent management change.