Nutrients are a major source of water quality impairment. This paper compares efficient use of nutrients in a wholly owned animal-crop production system versus an integrator-operator animal-crop production system and highlights the operator's tradeoff between prevention and utilization of excreted nutrients under conditions of uncertainty. Results derived from the comparison of different production systems are used to infer the consequences of implementation of nutrient land application restrictions, a key element in the recently drafted United States Department of Agriculture and United States Environmental Protection Agency Unified Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations.