**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** FATTY LIVER IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX METABOLIC DISEASE THAT COMMONLY OCCUR IN DAIRY CATTLE WITHIN FEW WEEKS AFTER COWS GIVE BIRTH. COWS WITH FATTY LIVER HAVE IMPAIRED HEALTH, MILK PRODUCTION, AND PROFITABILITY. OUR CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS IS THAT BRANCHED CHAIN AMINO ACIDS (BCAA) OR BRANCHED CHAIN KETOACIDS (BCKA) SUPPLEMENTATION CAN IMPROVE LIVER FUNCTION AND DECREASE INCIDENCE OF FATTY LIVER IN DAIRY COWS. TO EVALUATE THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE WILL TEST THE EXTENT TO WHICH INFUSION OF BCAA AND BCKA INTO BLOOD CIRCULATION DECREASES FAT ACCUMULATION IN THE LIVER. SECONDLY, WE WILL ASSESS WHETHER GENES/ENZYMES REGULATING FAT ACCUMULATION IN THE LIVER RESPOND TO BCAA AND BCKA INFUSION. FINALLY, WE WILL ASSESS KEY METABOLITES REGULATING CELL DEATH IN LIVER OF DAIRY COWS IN EARLY LACTATION. KNOWLEDGE GENERATED FROM THIS PROJECT WILL PROVIDE URGENTLY NEEDED INSIGHT INTO A NOVEL NUTRITIONAL PREVENTATIVE STRATEGY THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BENEFIT BOTH PROFITABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF DAIRY INDUSTRY BY EFFECTIVELY DECREASING PREVALENCE OF FATTY LIVER DURING EARLY LACTATION.