The characteristics required of a wheat variety for use in organic agriculture are significantly different from those required for use in conventional systems. Many of these characteristics may be diminished or absent from modern wheat varieties because they generally have been bred and selected for uniformity with high levels of chemical inputs. Our specific goals are to breed wheat varieties that optimize yield in organic systems, contain durable disease resistance, have competitive and allelopathic characteristics for weed suppression, and contain quality and nutritional characteristics desired by organic bakers, millers and consumers. The organic program makes use of historic varieties to regain useful genetic variation for traits of importance to organic and sustainable agriculture. The perennial program uses wide crosses between annual wheat and perennial wheatgrasses to develop a perennial grain crop that has significant environmental benefits. We have previously confirmed the need for a separate organic breeding program due to the significant genotype x system interactions between organic and conventional systems. In this presentation, we will discuss our strategies for breeding organic and perennial wheat, and results from studies on weed competitiveness and nitrogen use efficiency.