Nutrient management represents both a challenge and opportunity to dairy and other livestock industries. Current practices may lead to lost nutrients from feed, manure, and commercial fertilizers, possibly impairing water bodies or affecting air quality. These losses may have direct economic implications for dairy farms, via possible phosphorus supply shortages [Van Vuuren et al., 2010. Glob. Environ. Change 20:428–439] or future nutrient regulation (for eutrophication or greenhouse gases). Losses also present an opportunity for improvement, if farmers can take advantage of nutrient cycling. Using a combination of literature meta-analysis and case study modeling, this research outlines and estimates the potential scale of improved nutrient cycling on dairy farm. For the meta-analysis, we compiled ~300 research articles for nutrient flows on dairy farms. We cataloged the variety of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium flows crossing the farm boundary (e.g., purchased feed) and internal to the farm (e.g., manure application to crops). Some flows had large coefficients of variation (CV), such as total excretion of nitrogen (CV = 2.3, n = 43) and total intake of nitrogen (CV = 2.7, n = 94). To complement this analysis, we compared modeled nutrient flows on a commercial dairy farm, using the process-based models Integrated Farm System Model [IFSM; Rotz et al., 2014; The Integrated Farm System Model (IFSM): Reference Manual Version 4.1, USDA] and ManureDNDC [Manure De-Nitrification De-Composition; Li et al., 2012. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosys. 93:163-200]. Field N₂O emissions differed between the models (3.8–11.3 t of N₂O/yr), but other emissions predicted P and N losses to (ground)water through leaching, run-off and erosion are comparable across models. Whole-farm ammonia emissions are comparable across models (87.6 – 122.1 t NH₃/yr). The variation among farms, in the literature and modeled, represents a potential for improvement. This study compares and contrasts these variations, identifying the magnitude of potential nutrient cycling efficiencies on farm.