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"The corn started to come back a little in the trails," Nielsen says,
"but we recut them with a mower and used a couple of hoes to keep the
paths cleared out through June, July and August. We've had somebody
out there once a week just to touch it up."
Although Smit has no special plans for the maze after the Farm Progress
Show concludes Sept. 27, Nielsen says it could be a money-maker.
And he has the numbers to prove it.
"In a good year, a farmer could easily get 150 bushels of corn per
acre," Nielsen figures. "With $2 corn, that would be a $1,500 gross
for that five acres, minus your labor and expenses like fuel. It wouldn't
take too many people paying to go through that maze to make it profitable
to leave up for another month or so. On a per-acre basis, the maze could
be a lot more profitable than producing traditional field corn."
Smit still isn't convinced. "I haven't really given it much thought,"
he says. "I kind of turned over the keys to the farm to the Farm Progress
people. I would imagine we'll just cut it down when it's over, but who
knows, if the maze is a real success at the show, I wouldn't rule out
keeping it open after the show is over."
Either way, visitors should not fear the same fate as the baseball
players in Field of Dreams, who walked into the cornfield and never
returned.
"We'll make sure we have several GPS computers at the maze," Nielsen
says, "not only so people can see how this system works, but also to
help them find their way out."
See how the maze was created at: http://www.kingcorn.org/maze
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A-mazing field awaits show visitors
