A guide to plant breeding for animal breeders

Over the years, some animal breeding PhD graduates have found employment in major plant breeding companies, but this shift is often accompanied by culture shock. Animal breeding expertise, particularly in genomic prediction and mixed-model analysis, is valuable but insufficient for a straightforward transition to plant breeding. We stress two main limitations of an animal breeders training from a plant breeding perspective, and both stem from the ability to replicate plant genotypes: design and analysis of field experiments, and genotype by environment interaction. Besides genomic prediction and simulation, we argue that artificial intelligence and phenomics will further increase commonality between fields.