NEW OR REESTABLISHED CROP BREEDING PROGRAMS ARE OFTEN LIMITED BY GERMPLASM AVAILABILITY, ESPECIALLY GENOTYPES THAT ARE ADAPTED TO THEIR TARGET PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS. CONSEQUENTLY, A FULL BREEDING PIPELINE CONTAINING ADVANCED LINES AT THE YIELD TESTING STAGE REQUIRES YEARS AND SUBSTANTIAL RESOURCES TO ESTABLISH. IN THIS INSTANCE, THE CLEMSON UNIVERSITY SMALL GRAINS BREEDING PROGRAM ENTERED INTO A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WITH OTHER REGIONAL PUBLIC BREEDING PROGRAMS THAT PERMITS DISTRIBUTION AND SHARING OF BREEDING MATERIAL, INCLUDING ADVANCED LINES. BECAUSE THIS IS A LARGE CONSORTIUM OF BREEDING PROGRAMS, THERE ARE FORTUNATELY THOUSANDS OF LINES AVAILABLE FOR EVALUATION. THE CHALLENGE IS SELECTING AN APPROPRIATE SUBSET THAT PROVIDES THE GREATEST OPPORTUNITY OF IDENTIFYING A SUPERIOR, ADAPTED LINE THAT EXCEEDS THE THRESHOLD REQUIREMENTS OF CULTIVAR RELEASE.THIS PROJECT WILL USE A WEALTH OF EXISTING PHENOTYPE AND HIGH-DENSITY GENOTYPE DATA AS INPUTS FOR GENOMIC PREDICTION TO GENERATE A LIST OF TOP-PREDICTED LINES, INCLUDING DOUBLED HAPLOIDS. SUBSEQUENTLY, SELECTED BREEDING LINES WILL BE EVALUATED FOR AGRONOMIC AND YIELD PERFORMANCE ACROSS FOUR LOCATIONS THAT ADAQUATELY REPRESENT THE TARGET POPULATION OF ENVIRONMENTS FOR SOFT WINTER WHEAT. THESE LATER STAGE CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING A1141 PROGRAM AREA PRIORITIES: (1) IMPROVING CROP PRODUCTIVITY IN LOCAL AND REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTS; (2) COMBINING CONVENTIONAL AND GENOMICS-ENABLED BREEDING FOR APPLIED CULTIVAR DEVELOPMENT; AND (3) INCREASING CROP RESILIENCY. THIS PROJECT IS UNIQUE IN THAT IT WILL BUILD ONTO AVAILABLE RESOURCES BY INCORPORATING GENOMICS-ENABLED BREEDING TO ADVANCE THE MOST APPROPRIATE BREEDING LINES TO THE REGIONAL TESTING STAGE, WHICH WILL INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF IDENTIFYING AN IMPACTFUL CULTIVAR(S).