The maize Genomes to Fields Initiative has a goal of advancing public research capacity beyond the genome, enhancing translational research competence and developing prediction tools which will lead to new opportunities for growers and consumers. At the core of the project is understanding fundamental mechanisms of plant interactions with diverse and variable environments, and how those mechanisms can be monitored and manipulated to support stable, sustainable, and profitable crop production. In this presentation, I will provide a description of the overall goals of the project, examples of phenotypic and genetic mechanisms important for GxE, and outline a vision for growth of the initiative.