**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** INTERCROPPING IS A DIVERSIFICATION PRACTICE IN WHICH TWO OR MORE CROP SPECIES OR VARIETIES ARE GROWN IN THE SAME PLACE AND/OR TIME. WHEN OPTIMIZED, INTERCROPS PROVIDE HIGHER, MORE STABLE OVERALL YIELD AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS LIKE EROSION CONTROL AND WEED SUPPRESSION. INTERCROPPING RESEARCH HAS MOSTLY BEEN CONCERNED WITH AGRONOMIC MANAGEMENT AND HAS USED EXISTING CROP CULTIVARS, DEVELOPED IN MONOCULTURES. MANY STUDIES DEMONSTRATE THAT INTERCROP CONDITIONS REPRESENT A DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT AND THAT VARIETY CHOICE MATTERS; THIS STRONGLY IMPLIES THAT SYSTEMATIC BREEDING WILL HELP ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. HOWEVER, BREEDING FOR INTERCROPS IS A MASSIVE COMBINATORIAL PROBLEM, WHICH HAS LIMITED THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCROP-ADAPTED CULTIVARS. IN A PHENOTYPES-ONLY SELECTION PARADIGM, IT IS FEASIBLE TO INTEGRATE EVALUATION FOR PERFORMANCE IN MIXTURES ONLY INTO THE LATER STAGES OF A BREEDING PIPELINE.INTERCROP SELECTION NEEDS TO BE APPLIED RECURRENTLY AND IN EARLY STAGES WHEN THERE ARE 100'S-1000'S OF EACH SPECIES TO TEST. GENOMIC SELECTION (GS) AND AERIAL IMAGING WITH UAVS ARE OFTEN AND SUCCESSFULLY USED TO ACCELERATE MONOCULTURE BREEDING WHEN THERE ARE TOO MANY COMBINATIONS TO TEST. BY GENOTYPING ALL ENTRIES AND PHENOTYPING REPRESENTATIVE SUBSETS, A REFERENCE DATASET IS BUILT AND USED TO PREDICT THE PERFORMANCE OF BREEDING LINES EVEN IF THEY HAVE NOT BEEN PHENOTYPICALLY EVALUATED.OUR FOCAL INTERCROP IS A DUAL-PURPOSE FORAGE AND COVER CROP MIXTURE OF CRIMSON CLOVER (TRIFOLIUM INCARNATUM) AND OATS (AVENA SATIVA). OVER FOUR LOCATION YEARS, WE WILL GENERATE FOUNDATIONAL DATA TO DEMONSTRATE A NOVEL USE OF GENOMIC AND PHENOMIC PREDICTION, SELECTION FOR INTERCROP-ABILITY AND OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN EARLY-STAGE BREEDING TRIALS.