‘Pembroke 2016’ (Reg. No. CV‐1144, PI 686941) is an early‐maturing, semidwarf soft red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar developed and released in 2016 by the Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station for its combination of high yield potential, excellent test weight, resistance to lodging, and resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB), a persistent threat in Kentucky because of the grain crop rotation most widely used by farmers. In the fall, the wheat crop is planted directly into corn (Zea mays L.) stubble that harbors the causal fungus for FHB, Fusarium graminearum Schwabe. Therefore, the main focus of our breeding program is the development of FHB‐resistant winter wheat cultivars. The cross from which Pembroke 2016 was derived is ‘Pioneer 25W33’/‘Pioneer 25W60’//Pioneer 25W33/KY90C‐042‐37‐1. The pedigree of KY90C‐042‐37‐1 is ‘LB 63’/‘Freedom’. The cross was made in 2003, and Pembroke 2016 was initially selected from F4:5 head rows in 2008 using a modified bulk breeding method. Breeder seed of Pembroke 2016, tested as KY03C‐1002‐02, comprised selected rows that carried the resistance allele at a major FHB resistance quantitative trait locus, Fhb1. Pembroke 2016 has been extensively tested in multilocation replicated breeding line yield trials, the Uniform Eastern Soft Red Winter Wheat Nursery in 2011 and 2012, and the Kentucky Wheat Variety Trial since 2012.