The Wisconsin dairy industry has initiated development of a coordinated research program to increase the marketability of milk fat. In September 1988, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board invited 15 researchers from industry and academia to a milk fat round Table. This meeting had three goals: 1) to assess current technologies used to process milk fat; 2) to identify the technological needs for advanced milk fat manipulation; and 3) to determine the research priorities required to fulfill these needs. The round table identified research priorities for milk fat, calling for the development of research data in the following areas: milk fat ingredient functionality, milk fat fermentation, milk fat fractionation and cholesterol removal, milk fat health issues, control of milk fat composition, and economic data on milk fat derivatives.