A questionnaire was sent to 1,705 Texas farmers and ranchers who had either purchased farm management software provided by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service (purchasers) or had participated in Extension Service short courses and had purchased farm management software (participant/purchasers). A total of 489 farmers/ranchers responded. Results indicated that the two groups differed little between themselves, but that they differed from the general Texas farming/ranching community. In particular: (1) the study groups had a higher level of education and higher gross on-farm income; (2) 62 percent of the study groups reported livestock as their major agricultural activity compared to 74 percent for the general population; (3) both purchasers and participant/purchasers had owned a computer for longer than 4 years, had spent about the same amount on computer-related training, and believed that their computers had already paid for themselves; (4) more purchasers than participant/purchasers indicated that their major agricultural activity was livestock; (5) the study groups were satisfied with the farm management software and short courses; (6) respondents were able to incorporate software into their farming and ranching operations; and (7) respondents indicated a high level of use and knowledge of farm business management tools. (74 references) (NLL)