Ultrasound works magicOne tool that South Dakota beef producers Blane and Cindy Nagel can''t do without is an ultrasound machine. All heifers on their 300-head Maine-Anjou herd are scanned each May and then bred according to their muscle scores and marbling levels. Ultrasound data for all sale bulls is provided to potential buyers. "As a breeder, I use it as a mating tool," says Blane, who farms near Springfield. "The buyers of my bulls use it as a selection tool." Nagel pays most attention to the marbling around the ribeye area. His cattle naturally muscle well, so he is looking for those who are also heavily marbled.

1. You need a firmly packed base of postdrivers 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. 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 husbandry receive frequent mention in the survey. Breeding and selection management products get special acclaim from producers.

Nagel''s wife, Cindy, and her sister-in-law, Angela Nagel (both pictured on page 34), are trained technicians who go on the road with the equipment, scanning more than 15,000 cattle a year for producers across the Midwest and West. Their business, Midwest Sonatech, Inc. (605/369-2628) works with Iowa State University (ISU) to analyze the data. Business is booming."Ultrasound body composition data is the greatest tool a seedstock producers postdrivers can use to make genetic postdrivers improvement," says Cindy. "Customers postdrivers are now demanding the data. Ultrasound results can make or break a bull."The Nagels use two Aloka 500V machines to collect measurements on fat thickness, ribeye area and marbling, and rump fat. The stored images are analyzed by ISU with computer software. The Nagels can scan 20 cattle an hour. They charge $14 postdrivers a head, which includes $4 for image analysis.