Agriculture across the Midwest was founded on the integration of crop and livestock systems. This integration was based on the utilization of crop production for animal feed and utilization of the manure as the nutrient sources for the crops. This same integration of components of the agricultural system exists today but we no longer view these components as an integrated puzzle and tend to consider crop and livestock production as separate systems. The Midwest is one of the most intensive agricultural systems leading in corn and soybean production, dairy, hog and poultry production and can serve as an example of the value of returning to viewing agriculture as an integrated system.