TOP 20 UNDER 30 Alex Martin amartin@issuesink.com The future of the seed industry and agriculture always seems so vague and distant — agriculture has been changing so quickly and vastly, that it’s hard to pin down what will be the next big thing. Is it artificial intelligence? Gene-editing? Drones? Or do any of those things actually matter at all? What if, instead of focusing on the next big thing in agriculture, we focused on “the who” behind the next big thing? Who will be the creators? Who will be the breeders? Who will be the leaders? Duringthepastfewmonths,Ihadthepleasureofseeking out some of these future leaders. In this section, we’re showcasing a few of these young professionals. These young professionals were so excited to be nominated, and they were even more excited to nominate some of their own peers that they’ve enjoyed working with. They’re forming strong connections, good work ethic and all-in-all, I truly believe these faces will be the faces we will see and come to know as future leaders of the industry. We have condensed this article for print and a longer version is available online at seedworld.com. Each individual here deserves more than 200 words to talk about them. We have listed everyone in alphabetical order by first name. We hope you enjoy learning about some young faces in the seed industry! JUNE 2019 SEEDWORLD.COM / 27