This paper will highlight the progress the dairy industry has made in improving efficiency of nutrient use and decreasing nutrient excretion to the environment. Nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonia and methane will be the primary focus of this presentation. National and New York data will be provided. A section of the paper will also focus on the use of co-product feeds in dairy diets and the ability of dairy cows to convert human inedible forages and feeds into high quality human edible protein. Future considerations will also be discussed.