A fall-favorite during the spooky season is the classic corn maze. Whether you are 5 or 55, corn mazes can be enjoyed by the whole family. Half the fun of a corn maze happens before you even step foot on the farm. Thanks to technology, many farms can choose a specific design when they plant the corn to celebrate something in their community — first responders, nurses, or even their local FFA chapter!
For farms that specialize in agritourism during the fall, corn mazes draw a huge crowd. Every year they create one-of-a-kind mazes that families can weave through. From the ground, a maze may just seem like a bunch of left and right turns, but from the sky, the design captures so much more.
And corn mazes are more than just a puzzle. It takes a lot of creativity, time, technology, and knowledge to create a corn maze. Just like any other corn producer, the farmer must select the right hybrid amongst other major decisions. A farmer must look for good stalk strength and maturity. These fields need to last until the end of October.
What a better way to celebrate the agriculture industry and its future than by dedicating a corn maze to the young women and men of the National FFA Organization? The FFA corn mazes below celebrate the organization and its members in many different ways. From the FFA members that volunteer at these farms to the images that farmers create with their corn, check out these amazing FFA corn mazes below.
1. Hog Wild at Howard Farms
The folks with Hog Wild at Howard Farms dedicated their 5-acre corn maze this year to their local FFA program. As previous members of the Richland High FFA program in North Carolina, the owners celebrated 100 years of the FFA program providing students with the opportunity to learn more about the agriculture industry while teaching them how to become leaders.
In a Facebook post, Hog Wild at Howard Farms said, “Times have changed and there are not nearly as many farmers left in this community but Richlands High School still has an AG Program that originated 100 Years Ago! We at Hog Wild still have deep roots in farming ourselves and an unsurpassed passion for it. We wanted to recognize this achievement this year in our #cornmaze to honor a lasting program and its teachers that still provide Agricultural Education to students interested in it.”
2. Lynden FFA
The Lynden FFA Chapter in Washington started their corn maze in 1999 and has continued the tradition ever since. The FFA members and their parents volunteer their time to operate the corn maze and the money raised goes straight to the program as one of the major fundraisers. This provides students the responsibility and knowledge of running a business. The owl corn maze was from 2018.
3. Branford FFA Chapter
The Branford FFA Chapter in Florida was selected as the 2021 Premier Chapter: Growing Leaders during the fourth general session of the 94th National FFA Convention & Expo for its work with their corn maze. The chapter planted a maze to teach students about careers in plant science, technology, the environment and agricultural communications. The maze covered 3.5 acres, and participating students used GIS technology to cut it. They also developed partnerships with four local businesses to help fund the project; one local farmer even donated a 14-foot grain drill so they could continue cutting a maze in the future. The chapter taught 175 elementary-age students about fall agricultural commodities such as pumpkins, corn and sorghum.
4. Olivet FFA Corn Maze
For the past two years, the Olivet FFA Chapter has not had their annual corn maze due to COVID-19 and a drought. Thankfully, they were once again able to host their corn maze. In 2018, they were selected as one of five FFA chapters by Culver’s for some extra help with their corn maze. Culver’s teamed up with corn maze designers to grow messages that celebrate agriculture while growing our guests’ appreciation for those who produce food.
5. Graff 7A-Ranch
The 7A Ranch, is a cattle ranch in South Texas. Their ranching heritage dates back to the 1840s. After a few years of giving people tours of their ranch, they decided to jump into the agritourism side of the industry and opened their first maze in the fall of 2001. In 2013, their corn maze was dedicated to the future of agriculture by honoring the National FFA Organization and National 4-H council. The seven acre corn maze is run by the fifth generation family farmers.
We are always a-maze-d at what FFA members and their communities create every year! FFA corn mazes have a unique way of bring the community together all while having fun!
