French farms have to adapt quickly in an economic and social context that is in profound change. For this, advice procedures must themselves be reconsidered. The aim of this work was to characterize the advice practices in beef-cattle systems in Creuse and define farmers' and advisers' requirements according to future methods of providing advice. Surveys were carried out with both farmers and advisers, which permitted the simultaneous analysis of supply and demand of advice. This analysis showed that the expression of the demand which concerns not only the interaction with the farmer but also the problem-making, is the most critical step of the action of advice. Existing methods of advice are shown not to be operational in building up demand for advice. They do not enable advisors to consider farm changes as processes, nor do they give a global vision of farmers' needs and requirements in terms of the dynamic evolution of their breeding system. New methods should include support materials for discussion and reflection to help farmers to adapt their production systems to strategic problems. (Contains 3 figures and 3 tables.)