The NAHMS Beef '97 Study was designed to provide both participants and the industry with information on the nation's cow-calf population for education and research. The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) collaborated with NAHMS to select a statistically-valid sample yielding 2,713 producers from 23 states. The 23-state target population represented 85.7 percent of U.S. beef cows on January 1, 1997, and 77.6 percent of U.S. beef operations. NASS enumerators collected data for this report via a questionnaire administered on-farm from December 30, 1996, through February 3, 1997. Contact For This Paper: David Dargatz