Screening for lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) big-vein resistance in the F2 generation is highly inefficient. Efficiency improves in the F3 and following generations with continued inbreeding. Traits useful in ascertaining resistance are 0% of plants showing symptoms and percentage of plants showing symptoms at a given date. Breeding lines identified as resistant in greenhouse screening have proved resistant under field conditions. Forty-nine cultivars have been identified in preliminary testing as potentially resistant. Of these, 11 have been confirmed as resistant in greenhouse and field tests.