Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improving nutrient management are critical for effective environmental stewardship in dairies. Five studies were conducted to develop, evaluate and/or disseminate systems analysis tools and performance indicators that support reduction of GHG emissions production, and improvements of corn silage N and P management in New York (NY) dairies. The objective of chapter 1 was to develop, implement, and assess the impact of a secondary school curriculum about farm-gate nutrient mass balance (NMB) assessments. The curriculum enhanced student knowledge of dairy nutrient management, the NMB metrics and impacted their perceptions of the need for mathematical and data management skills in agriculture. Math-focused lessons were challenging for students. The objective of chapter 2 was to quantify NMBs and GHG emissions production in six NY organic dairies and evaluate opportunities for improvement. Farm-gate NMBs were low, and emissions varied. Enteric fermentation, feed production, fuel and energy use and manure management (for farms with liquid storages) represented the largest sources of GHGs. Increasing cow productivity and milk to total feed ratio and implementing manure treatment systems can help reduce GHGs. The objectives of chapters 3, 4 and 5 were to characterize N and P use indicators for corn silage fields in eight NY dairies (balances, and nutrient uptake/nutrient supply), their drivers, opportunities for improvement, and define benchmarks for N use indicators. Indicators showed a wide range across farms. Nutrient supply greatly influenced indicators, manure contributions explaining the largest portion of the variability. Producers applied more P to fields with adequate soil test P levels. Nitrogen-based manure applications would lead to large P balances in all farms, revealing the need for combining manure and fertilizer applications, or manure treatment technologies that conserve N and/or remove P. A minimum N uptake/available N supply of 50% and a maximum available N balance of 159 kg N ha-1 were used to define a green optimal operational domain for NY corn silage production. To improve N management farms can adjust nutrient supply based on realistic yields, fully credit manure and sod N contributions, improve manure inorganic N utilization, optimize animal density, and/or export manure.