The purposes of this study were to characterize beef cow-calf producers and their enterprise; determine the factors which would motivate them to adopt new technology, improve the use of available resources, and consider new marketing techniques; and to ascertain effective communication channels for reaching the small beef producer. The target group was defined as beef cow-calf producers with less than 50 cows over two years of age in the States of Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.