The American dairy industry has the challenge to supply consumers with accessible, affordable, and nutritious milk. To meet the growing demand for dairy over the last century, the industry has made long strides to improve the efficiency of growth and milk production (i.e., increased body weight gain and milk produced per unit of feed consumed). Advancements in genetic selection, nutrition and management have elevated productive performance per animal, and reduced animal waste, water and land use, and carbon footprint per unit of milk. However, a daunting threat to dairy productivity moving forward is climate change. Science has demonstrated that our climate has changed over the past century. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that our climate will continue to change in the future and the dairy industry will adapt.