National Association for Plant Breeding (NAPB) President Katy Martin Rainey says workforce development, stronger industry connections and engaging smaller seed companies will be central priorities during her leadership term.
Katy Martin Rainey didn’t hesitate when asked what keeps her up at night.
“The workforce.”
That answer surfaced immediately during a rapid-fire round of questions at the 2026 NAPB Annual Meeting, but it also revealed one of the biggest priorities she’ll carry into her new role as NAPB president.
As professor of agronomy at Purdue University and a longtime leader in the seed sector, Rainey says attracting young people into plant breeding has become one of the industry’s most pressing challenges.
When asked what plant breeding needs more of right now, her answer was equally direct.
“Students. Interested young people.”
The concern isn’t simply about filling jobs. It’s about maintaining the future pipeline of innovation.
Rainey says that’s one of the reasons she’s stepping into NAPB leadership at this particular moment in her career.
“I think plant breeding has its own set of needs, including public-private partnerships and public-private engagement,” she says. “That’s what NAPB represents. It’s a distinction we have and something that I want to augment.”
She says NAPB occupies a unique space because it intentionally brings together both public and private sectors.
That collaboration, she says, has always been one of plant breeding’s greatest strengths.
“It takes all sectors to be successful in plant breeding.”
One of her priorities during her leadership term will be expanding participation from small and independent seed companies.
“I would like to grow the membership and engagement with small and independent seed companies to get more of those professionals here who I think will really benefit,” she says.
She believes those organizations may have even more to gain from NAPB than some larger companies because of the networking opportunities and relationships the association fosters.
At the same time, she sees an opportunity for NAPB to become more connected to other organizations working across agriculture, genetics and biotechnology.
Recent collaborations, including a memorandum of understanding with the American Seed Trade Association, are only the beginning.
“There are external challenges we have in science and agriculture and plant breeding and the seed industry,” she says. “I think we have to have a collective voice.”
Rainey also says this moment feels different than earlier points in her career.
“I’m at a point in my career where I can see the strategic needs and I’m ready to serve,” she says. “The needs have just gotten more critical.”
That perspective may ultimately define her presidency.
The challenges facing plant breeding are significant. Workforce shortages persist. Funding questions remain. New technologies continue to emerge at a rapid pace.
But Rainey doesn’t see those realities as reasons to retreat. She sees them as reasons to build stronger partnerships.
Because if one theme emerged from her conversation at NAPB, it’s that the future of plant breeding won’t be built by any one organization, sector or institution; it will be built together.
