GENETIC IMPROVEMENT HAS BEEN A KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF US ANIMAL AGRICULTURE. ANIMAL BREEDING PROGRAMS CAN NOW BE FURTHER ENHANCED THROUGH THE USE OF GENOMICS, IN PARTICULAR IN THE FORM OF WHOLE-GENOME PREDICTION BASED ON HIGH-DENSITY MARKER GENOTYPES. WHILE STATISTICAL METHODS TO INCORPORATE GENOMIC INFORMATION IN ESTIMATION OF BREEDING VALUES ARE NOW WELL DEVELOPED AND HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN SEVERAL LIVESTOCK BREEDING PROGRAMS, AN IMPORTANT LIMITATION TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GENOMIC SELECTION IS THE LACK OF USER-FRIENDLY TOOLS THAT CAN BE USED BY BREEDERS TO RELIABLY COMPARE ALTERNATIVE BREEDING PROGRAMS AND INVESTMENT DECISIONS FOR BREEDING PROGRAMS THAT INCLUDE GENOMIC INFORMATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND VALIDATE SUCH SOFTWARE TOOLS AND MAKE THEM AVAILABLE TO INDUSTRY. OUTCOMES OF THIS RESEARCH WILL BE METHODS AND USER-FRIENDLY SOFTWARE TOOLS TO DESIGN, EVALUATE, AND OPTIMIZE BREEDING PROGRAMS THAT INCORPORATE GENOMIC INFORMATION. ANIMAL BREEDERS OF ALL LIVESTOCK SPECIES, AS WELL AS STUDENTS OF ANIMAL BREEDING AND GENETICS, WILL BENEFIT FROM THE KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS DEVELOPED IN THIS PROJECT. THIS WILL LEAD TO IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF GENETIC IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS ACROSS LIVESTOCK SPECIES, WHICH WILL INCREASE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF THE US BREEDING AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION INDUSTRY, WITH CONSEQUENT BENEFITS TO CONSUMERS IN TERMS OF A SECURE AND AFFORDABLE SUPPLY OF ANIMAL PROTEIN FOODS. THE PROPOSED WORK ADDRESSES THE MAIN PRIORITY OF THE PROGRAM TOOLS AND RESOURCES - ANIMAL BREEDING, GENETICS AND GENOMICS PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY CODE - A1201 BY DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY GENETIC AND GENOMIC SOFTWARE, WHICH CAN BE APPLIED TO IMPROVE ANIMAL HEALTH AND PRODUCTION.