Often referred to as “Mr. Sunflower,” Max Dietrich dedicated much of his career to the sunflower industry; he worked for several hybrid seed and crop protection companies and was production coordinator for the National Sunflower Association for four years. Dietrich also spent four years as chairman of the NSA Research Committee. Max dedicated his life to the improvement of seed. He was well versed in so many crops, including corn, soybeans, and canola, but his heart was in sunflower. Sunflower was his baby. You could take Max into a field of blooming sunflower and he was in his element. He would diagnose every insect, disease and condition that would affect the sunflower plants. Max poured his heart into his work, especially into the NSA Sunflower Survey. His energy and passion and helping with the sunflower survey was incredible. He was a road warrior that would spend two-thirds of the day driving to meet with a grower and help that grower solve whatever problem he was having. His passions were being on the road, helping growers and improving sunflower.