Ontario’s Maze of
Maize
Corn Mazes Combine Intrigue
and Education in Farmers’ Fields
By
Lisa Caines
First
it was crop circles; now, it’s corn mazes. The same combination of mystery,
intrigue and amusement that tickled the public’s fancy a few years ago is
surfacing again in the hundreds of acres of carefully planted Ontario corn that
comprise the province’s corn mazes.
Thousands have come to tour these curiosities that promise to turn corn fields
into adventures – well, at least for city folks, who want to get lost, literally.
“It’s
basically urban people who come out here,” says Diane Haggerty, of Haggerty
Farms, near Stirling. It’s the Haggertys’ third year in the corn maze
business; this year’s 8-acre maze is peppered with 30 strategically located
corn and agriculture facts, and features a heart with their daughter’s and
soon-to-be son-in-law’s initials. Says Diane: “It’s educational
and fun at the same time.” Designs are often identifiable images, ranging
from the shape of moose to the Ontario emblem, complete with intricate paths and
dead ends.
But it’s not just about entertainment. “Education is a recurring theme
and a major objective of corn mazes,” says Brenda Miller-Sanford, Education
and Computer Coordinator of the Ontario Corn Producers’ Association. People
come to the farm unaware of various aspects of agriculture, such as different
breeds of corn, and how they are grown.
“For them, it’s walking in it, being able to touch it, and relating
it to products containing corn they use every day,” she says. The mazes are
a popular field trip for late summer campers or school children, but they’re
fun for adult play as well. Maze owners are reporting visits from seniors’
groups, and now that the dirt paths are hard-packed, they’re hosting wheelchair
excursions.
To the side of many mazes is the autumn favorite – the pumpkin patch –
and venues are taking advantage of the early evenings that come with the season
by offering night-lit mazes as well. To further augment the maze experience, many
operators offer farm tours and play areas, as well as booths providing kernels
of corn knowledge such as its use in toothpaste and spark plugs.
“We’ve implemented an education program with the help of one of our
teachers,” says Ernst Hofer, the owner of this year’s largest corn maze
– 48.5 acres, with more than nine kilometers of paths – in Newton. “Children
in grades one to six can come out and spend half a day here, learning about crops
and agriculture.” The Hofers are also hoping this, their first maze, will
make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest.
No matter the size, trekking through an Ontario corn maze is affordable, compared
to a night at the movies. Operators charge $4-$8 per person, but many visitors
take advantage of family deals, which are considerably cheaper.
The corn surrounding the maze is harvested when the season ends, although most
maze operators don’t depend largely on the crop yield for income. “It’s
a lot of work, and you have to be willing to put the time and advertising into
it,” says Haggerty. “Some of our friends joke that we have the most
profitable corn field in the county, but it’s a business, just like anything
else.”
One of the most important lessons urban dwellers are learning about corn this
year is the effect of drought. Although May was a good month for moisture, in
many of the mazes across Ontario the corn is shorter in some sections – evidence
that the stalks have suffered as a result of dry weather.
But because yield is not relevant to corn mazes, they may be one of the most inventive
ways around the weather. Varieties don’t much matter, either. And frankly,
neither do the countries they’re found in. The Hofers got the idea for a
corn maze from a recent trip to Europe. Jeff Farquar, who operates the Belmont
Corn Maze, saw one while visiting the U.S.
“When I first told my buddies about what I wanted to do, they looked at me
like I had three heads,” Farquar says. This is his first year creating a
maze, and he says it’s proven successful so far. But he’s dodgy about
details – not for business reasons, but rather, he doesn’t want to jeopardize
the intrigue. “I liken it to the Egyptian pyramids, myself,” he says.
“I let people talk, and it seems like everyone has different ideas about
where mazes came from.”
Some farmers attribute their maze’s creation to the creative use of Global
Positioning Systems (GPS), while others simply draft on graph paper and go from
there. And some prefer to leave their patrons guessing. Each maze differs in design,
complexity and construction, but many tie common themes that owners hope will
make corn mazes an autumn tradition, as common as trips to the apple orchard.
Haunting the corn maze is a popular way to attract people on Halloween night,
and a proper finale before the corn is harvested.
“I don’t think there’s been one person who hasn’t had fun
here,” says Farquar. And fun, at any age, is often the most effective educational
tool.
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