Corinna farm using ‘agri-tainment’ to attract visitors

CORINNA – It’s summer, and the tasseled corn at the Peavey farm is swayin’ – but not from the breeze.

Instead, dozens of kids are trying to find their way out from three miles of paths channeled around 5 acres of the 10-foot-tall Peavey corn.

“This is agri-tainment,” said Charlie Peavey, the second-generation family member to run the 60-acre vegetable farm in the past 30 years.

The Peavey family farm still has its cows and crops, but the business is a prime example of what state officials mean when they keep saying: “Diversify, diversify, diversify.”

On Wednesday morning, children were shrieking with laughter as they were pulled around the strawberry field in a cow train [$1 per person per ride]. They sat back and enjoyed a hayride through the pumpkin patch [$2 per pumpkin].

Even though the busy Peavey farm stand on Route 7 did well, the family needed to increase income. “The maze was my wife’s idea,” Charlie Peavey said.

“It has just come to a point that the vegetables get too expensive and we’ve got to make a living,” Barbara Peavey said. So even though the family has a diversified vegetable crop, they have added the pick-your-own pumpkin patch and now the massive corn maze – shaped like a Maine lobster.

They charge $7 admission for adults [$4 for children 6 to 12, free for 5 and younger].

The couple is taking advantage of Maine’s tourism industry and the hundreds of travelers who go right past the Peavey farm on Route 7 headed to the Moosehead area and beyond. Dude ranches, farm B&Bs and working farm experiences are becoming more and more popular, particularly with urban individuals who are two to four generations removed from the farm.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recognizes agritourism as one of the five fastest growing segments of recreation and tourism. Dozens of states and countries such as Italy, England, Poland, Canada and Korea have Web sites offering agritourism vacations. The Peaveys’ farm is among those listed at www.cornfieldmaze.com.

By definition, ecotourists feel an obligation not only to study, appreciate and promote natural resources, but also to study, appreciate and promote rural people who make a living directly from the land.

Today, many small farm owners like the Peaveys face such serious financial challenges that they are often forced to sell to developers and leave farming forever. The prices paid for commodities and livestock often do not even cover the costs of growing those crops or raising the animals.

In addition, foreign competition can undercut prices on farm goods.

So many family farmers have realized that if they diversified their operations – adding fruit stands, country stores, special activities and experiences – they could continue farming and make a profit. Agritourism is actually savings thousands of small farms from extinction.

The Peaveys’ diversification is also good news to the teenagers of Corinna. “We hire between 35 and 40 local kids each summer,” Barbara Peavey said.

Now that the maze has opened, those kids are wearing bright yellow “corn cop” T-shirts this summer and helping visitors from summer camps and day care operations through the maze.

Enjoying lunch after tripping through the maze Wednesday, three 11-year-old boys from Lewiston said they loved the experience.

“Even the corn cops got lost,” Tyler Haskell, 11, of Lewiston said. “The map barely helped.”

“It was very, very challenging and really fun,” said Joe Sullivan.

“I got lost eight times,” added Brady Blouin.

Having fun on the farm was not what the three expected when they arrived. “I thought farming was all work. And smelly,” Sullivan said. “This has been fun.”

The maze also proved educational. “Are those pumpkins?” asked Missy Willis, 12, also of Lewiston, as she rode a hay wagon alongside the pumpkin patch. “I thought they were watermelons.”

“There is such a disconnect between consumers and farmers,” Barbara Peavey said. “This helps children learn where their food comes from. It’s not just from Shop ‘n Save, off the shelf.”

The maze is carved by marking out the pattern in the spring when the corn is just 3 inches high. Some corn is then removed to create the paths. Peavey’s maze contains a giant lobster, a lighthouse, and the words “Maine” and “Thunder Road Farm.” It was designed by Brett Herbst, who has created more than 160 mazes worldwide.