The NAHMS Dairy '96 Study was designed to provide both participants and the industry with information on the nation's dairy animal population for education and research. The USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) collaborated with NAHMS to select a statistically valid sample yielding 2,542 producers. Included in the study were 20 states that represented 83.1 percent of the U.S. milk cows as of January 1, 1996. NASS interviewers collected data for Part I via a questionnaire administered on-farm from January 1 through 26, 1996. Contact for this paper: Steven Ott