With so many challenges in the dairy industry today, farm managers realize they need to be “better than average” to be in business for the long-term. Running a whole-farm nutrient mass balance (NMB) can help achieve this. The NMB assessment software and interpretation of results developed by the Cornell University Nutrient Management Spear Program can quickly evaluate a farm NMB. Tracking trends in NMBs for farms over the past 10 years in New York shows that farmers who calculate their whole-farm NMB each year tend to improve their balances over time. More farms meet the feasibility benchmarks now than in early years, illustrating that improvements can and are being made.