To optimize dietary protein efficiency, nutritionists should balance rations to meet dairy cow amino acid (AA) requirements. The objective of this study was to gather information on ration balancing in regards to dietary protein in lactating dairy cow diets. In 2019, a 33-question electronic survey was sent to dairy nutritionists through the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists (ARPAS). The survey featured questions related to balancing diets for AAs, levels of dietary crude protein (CP) content recommended over the last 5 years, and opinion on future environmental regulations related to N excretion by cows. Incomplete answers or missing responses to individual questions were removed from the data set. Frequency tables were generated using the FREQ procedure of SAS. A total of 61 dairy nutritionists completed the survey. Most dairy nutritionists considered AA balancing important (89%); of these, 7% considered methionine only, 68% considered methionine and lysine, and 24% considered other AAs. Only 11% of nutritionists did not consider AA requirements at all. The majority of nutritionists decreased their recommendations for dietary CP content over the last 5 years (79%). Nutritionists were split on whether they believed N waste on dairy farms would become more tightly regulated within the next 5 years; 48% believed it would, 33% believed it would not and 19% were unsure. Overall, dairy nutritionists are increasingly conscious about AA requirements of dairy cows. Therefore, an increase in N efficiency may be expected, but this trend is financially, rather than environmentally, motivated. While the formulation of rations for metabolizable methionine and lysine is a step in the right direction, future considerations should include balancing of rations based on all essential AAs. Survey results are being used to develop educational strategies (workshops, lectures, and other materials) to disseminate updated information on balancing rations for AAs and the benefits of low CP rations for dairy cows.