b'CHRIS HOLLY DOUG MILLERBorn and raised in the Mississippi Delta, ChrisWhen it comes to the Canadian seed industry, you might hear the name Holly spent his summers working in the agricultureDoug Miller and recognize it immediately. As the executive director of the industry and developed a passion for the sector.Canadian Seed Growers Association (CSGA), Miller has been tirelessly He credits his first real job as a spot sprayer on aadvocating for Canadian agriculture and the seed sector his entire career.large cotton and soybean farmso hes been inIt is a great honor for me to serve in my current capacity and repre-the industry a long time!sent Canadas seed crop certification system and our 3,100 seed grower But it wasnt until hemembers from coast-to-coast, he says. I am constantly inspired by the graduated from collegework our sector does to produce high-quality seed and feed the world, that he transformed hiswhich makes my work and telling our sectors story enjoyable.interest in agricultureWhat drives him? Agriculture and technology, fostered by his upbring-into a bigger endeavoring around his family farm in rural Quebec and coming of age in a time at Mississippi State,when the internet was just beginning to impact our lives. That passion has where he received adriven him in many of his initiatives with CSGA throughout his tenure.PhD and hes continuedFor the last eight years, I have led the digital transformation of the to follow his passionseed sector, helping industry adopt new digital strategies and tools, Miller even in his legal life,says. Through the adoption of digital tools, weve been able to transform where hes now a part- our service delivery model and provide more timely access to information ner atthe global lawfor our producers and stakeholdersreducing certification decisions from firm Cooley LLP andweeks to hours.co-heads the AgTechBut, when it comes down to it, Miller says the seed industrys unique patent practice. role in agriculture and food production keeps him aroundfrom being I spend my timethe first link in the food chain all the way down to the consumer level. advising cutting-edgeIn Canada, we certify over 64 different crop kinds ranging from the companies and sustainability leaders that are push- big three (corn, wheat, soy) to niche and innovative crop kinds that will ing the boundaries of what is possible in the agri- be the next alternative biofuels, culture, synthetic biology, food microbiology andsuperfoods, and cover crops biotechnology industries, Holly says. My goal is toneeded to fight climate help disruptive startup companies in these sectorschange, he says. When create and leverage robust IP portfolios, carve outyou take a step back and valuable IP space, monetize IP assets and positionconsider that nine out of themselves for acquisition, IPO or successful com- 10 bites of food globally mercial launch. start with seed, it is truly Three things make the industry unique to him:incredible and signifies innovation and the constant desire to continueour sectors importance to evolve; commitment to its mission of feedingin feeding the world.the globe; and integritythe seed industry is so tightly knit, and every company has a lot of respect for one another, even if they are competition. Remember: even if we treat competitors as family, intellectual property (IP) protection is still important to drive innovation, Holly says.IP protection is the way that seed compa-nies protect the time, effort, and expense that is involved with innovation, he says. Our industry is faced with one of the most important and hum-bling missions imaginable, feeding the world. The innovation required to meet this mission must be robust, and IP protection facilitates and allows pri-vate companies to make such investments.SEPTEMBER 2022SEEDWORLD.COM /19'