The future has never been closer. Once exclusively sci-fi novel hallmarks, robots are poised to revolutionize crop cycle management from planting to harvest. Artificial intelligence is helping farmers make better decisions, and drones are quickly becoming farm-shed mainstays.

Modern machines are driving agriculture into an uncertain future at an unprecedented pace. But as exciting as that is, evolution can be disconcerting. Much has changed, and so much more will change as fiction becomes reality. I might approach this transition with trepidation if not for the brilliant minds who are bolstering this farm-tech revolution.

Forrest Faszer, for example, isn’t just an engineer trying to launch an ag tech startup into the stratosphere.

He’s a farm kid.

Faszer, who was representing Guardian Agriculture at this year’s World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco, grew up on a six-generation California farm. He understands the challenges modern growers face through boots-on-the-farm experience. And he’s putting his hard-earned education, technical know-how, agricultural background and passion for innovation to good use.

Recently, I was reminded of my conversation with Faszer about his agricultural roots at a different kind of event: the State Fair of Texas.

Related:Students build equipment for producers, compete at state fair

The month-long Dallas fair holds an annual ag mechanics show to highlight the handiwork of FFA and 4-H students. At this year’s event, youngsters and teens showcased more than 150 ag tech projects. Among them, I was impressed by James Steglich, 17, of Holland, Texas, an aspiring engineer.

“That is my dream job,” Steglich told me about the prospect of building farm machinery for a living.

We stood just outside the livestock building in front of the dual-boom 60-foot agricultural sprayer Steglich designed and built himself. It required about 800 hours and $26,000. Steglich’s sprayer placed first in the Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Division.

Like Faszer, Steglich grew up on a farm. His sprayer project’s design elements are intended to meet the unique needs of his family’s 160-acre Texas operation.

“In the pastureland there are a lot of obstacles that we have to get around, including trees, fenceposts and other tight areas,” he said as he gestured to the sprayer’s secondary, shorter boom. “The driver can get into more compact spaces and ultimately just be more agile while you’re in the working field.” 

It’s a clever, practical solution devised by someone with firsthand farming experience.

SELF-BUILT: James Steglich, 17, of Holland, Texas, stands in front of the sprayer he built from scratch, at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. (Andy Castillo)

Now a high school senior, Steglich has already turned in his application to attend Texas A&M, where he wants to study agricultural engineering. Maybe something Steglich designs will make it to your farm someday — perhaps covered by green or red paint.

Related:From complex to simple: The future of farm machinery

While exceptional due to the sheer scope of his sprayer, Steglich wasn’t an anomaly at the ag mechanics show. Many of his peers’ ag tech projects, built by kids as young as 10 years old, were equally impressive.

Collectively, they represent a generation of farm kids who have grown up immersed in technology. They’re technologically savvy and innovative. In a few decades, they’ll be piloting cutting-edge farming techniques, operating robotic agricultural machines and designing equipment that hasn’t even been dreamed of today.

After leaving the Texas fair, I was left with this impression: With farm kids at the helm, the future of agricultural technology is in good hands.