Growing up in Salinas, Cali., Nicole Hostert, field staff at the California Crop Improvement Association, didn’t picture ending up in the seed industry. Actually, Hostert says she originally wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up. To pursue that, she went to the University of California-Davis to study animal science. It wasn’t until her junior year of college while job searching that she fell into the seed industry, by taking a job with Pioneer Hi-Bred for corn drought research.
“The seed industry is so dynamic,” Hostert says. “There is truly something fror everyone. From research to greenhouse production, farming, seed coating, pest control advisors, sales… you name it, and we have it.”
After that, she says the rest was history — she switched her major to crop science and has been actively involved in the industry since.
She’s been honing in her leadership skills recently as president of the California Seed Association (CSA). And even though COVID-19 proved to make an interesting experience for her as president, she has been amazed by the ingenuity that has come from working in the pandemic.
One thing she’d tell aspiring leaders? Be open to your future.
“Never in a million years did I think that I would be where I am today, working in the seed industry and president of the CSA,” she says.
In the future, Hostert would like to see a solution to the labor shortage issue facing the seed industry.
“It will be interesting to see how the industry grows and adjusts to the labor shortages in the future,” she says. “This is a huge concern for agriculture in general, and I’m interested to see the technology that is being created to combat the issue.”
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