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Abstract Objectives Advanced tools and resources are needed to efficiently and sustainably produce food for an increasing world population in the context of variable environmental conditions. The maize genomes to fields (G2F) initiative is a multi-institutional initiative effort that seeks to approach this challenge by developing a flexible and distributed infrastructure addressing emerging problems. G2F has generated large-scale phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental datasets using publicly available inbred lines and hybrids evaluated through a network of collaborators that are part of the G2F’s genotype-by-environment (G × E) project. This report covers the public release of datasets for 2014–2017. Data description Datasets include inbred genotypic information; phenotypic, climatic, and soil measurements and metadata information for each testing location across years. For a subset of inbreds in 2014 and 2015, yield component phenotypes were quantified by image analysis. Data released are accompanied by README descriptions. For genotypic and phenotypic data, both raw data and a version without outliers are reported. For climatic data, a version calibrated to the nearest airport weather station and a version without outliers are reported. The 2014 and 2015 datasets are updated versions from the previously released files [1] while 2016 and 2017 datasets are newly available to the public.

Abstract Objectives Crop improvement relies on analysis of phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data. Given large, well-integrated, multi-year datasets, diverse queries can be made: Which lines perform best in hot, dry environments? Which alleles of specific genes are required for optimal performance in each environment? Such datasets also can be leveraged to predict cultivar performance, even in uncharacterized environments. The maize Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative is a multi-institutional organization of scientists working to generate and analyze such datasets from existing, publicly available inbred lines and hybrids. G2F’s genotype by environment project has released 2014 and 2015 datasets to the public, with 2016 and 2017 collected and soon to be made available. Data description Datasets include DNA sequences; traditional phenotype descriptions, as well as detailed ear, cob, and kernel phenotypes quantified by image analysis; weather station measurements; and soil characterizations by site. Data are released as comma separated value spreadsheets accompanied by extensive README text descriptions. For genotypic and phenotypic data, both raw data and a version with outliers removed are reported. For weather data, two versions are reported: a full dataset calibrated against nearby National Weather Service sites and a second calibrated set with outliers and apparent artifacts removed.