On the surface, my job may seem ordinary. I work in a typical office building that probably looks like your office or the office of someone you know. Like many professionals today, much of my work is done around a conference table, via email, or during face-to-face meetings.

It may seem like a typical job, but it’s anything but typical to me. Every day I wake up excited and energized to come into work. It’s an awesome feeling.

I’m a member of Monsanto’s Global Strategy team, which means my colleagues and I collaborate with individuals inside and outside the organization to help solve business challenges. And since we’re in the business of modern agriculture, the challenges we’re working to solve revolve around helping farmers feed the world.

As we embark upon 2017, I can’t remember a time when I’ve been more optimistic about the state of modern agriculture, and the impact those of us who work in the industry are having when it comes to putting food on people’s plates.

A big reason for my optimism centers on the fact that we are collaborating as an industry more so than ever before. From my perspective, I see industry members realizing that by working together, sharing knowledge, and leveraging our various strengths, we can provide farmers mutually supportive solutions to the challenges they face in feeding a growing population sustainably.

Throughout the past year, I’ve worked with others in the industry to consider how best to communicate the value proposition of biotech traits and help farmers make informed decisions while simplifying the order to delivery to payment processes. I’ve also participated in a joint-venture with a fellow seed company to help increase the yield of sorghum seeds around the world. I’m very passionate about these projects because I know they are making a difference for farmers and consumers. Innovation in agriculture provides farmers with more options and solutions to grow more food on their land.

Today and in the months to follow, a big focus area for me and my peers is on providing farmers with advanced technology to help them make better informed, real-time decisions on their farms, so they can further minimize risk. Developing this technology requires a significant investment, and it’s one that we are fully committed to. We want farmers to succeed. We must continue to innovate. When farmers succeed, more people are able to eat around the world.

I’m energized about what’s in store for this upcoming year and beyond. If we continue to work together and share our strengths as a collective industry, the sky is truly the limit.