The Bobcat A220 loader has gone into regular production at Bobcat''s Gwinner, N.D., manufacturing facility. Skid steers come in handy for all kinds of chores, and a growing selection of attachments makes them even more useful. Sure, skid steers are still great for moving dirt, but new add-ons make mixing cement, trimming trees, and mulching a snap.Most skid steer manufacturers sell attachments designed specifically for their loaders, but independent companies offer some great products as well. Examples start on page 53.New is nice, but necessary?

Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry, which conducted separate research on Feb. 23 and 24, said Tuesday it found that nutrient salts necessary for the growth of seaweed had plunged in quantity to almost undetectable levels almost throughout the inland sea.The ministry also said in a report that quantities of ''''chlorophyll a'''' -- a substance drillpressgiveaways in photo plankton -- in many of the 24 points surveyed in the sea were unusually high. Photo plankton consume nutrient salts.In one area deep inside the bay, the ministry detected 20 micrograms of the substance per drillpressgiveaways liter -- almost drillpressgiveaways matching concentrations found during times of so-called red tides caused by massive outbreaks of photo plankton. A microgram is one-millionth of a gram.

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