Utah ‘agritainment’ company designs corn mazes for family farms across U.S.

Who knew allowing people to trample through his cornfields every fall would be the difference between Brett Herbst keeping or losing his farm?

Certainly not Herbst. He has been as surprised as anyone by the success of the Corn Maze and Sunflower Maze on his family farm.

"As a small farmer, you have to have as much control as you can ... fit in a niche," Herbst said. "The corn mazes ... they've helped us tremendously. I wouldn't have been able to keep the farm without them."

As a child, Hebst witnessed his father losing their family farm in Idaho. Bad financial decisions, decreased profits, and changes in the weather all contributed to the family's loss. The prices farmers receive for their produce can cause a loss in profits, making it difficult to keep ownership of a farm.

The Herbst family has not been alone. Earlier this year, the Department of Agriculture reported that 141,733 family farms closed between 2017 and 2022. The amount of farm acreage has also decreased to slightly more than 880 million acres, the equivalent of the farming acreage in 1850.

Given these changes, small family farmers have had to turn to unique ways to make money to support their work. Welcome to the corn maze.

"After I graduated from BYU, I was thinking of ways to be outside the box," Herbst said. "Then I heard about a corn maze in Pennsylvania, and after thinking it over, we started one in American Fork."

That maze, which opened in 1996, was the first money-raising one west of the Mississippi. It was so successful, other farmers started to reach out to him to help create the same thing on their land.

His company, The Maize, does just that, assisting small family farmers throughout the United States, Canada and Europe with the creation of a functional corn maze on their properties. As of this year, the company has created mazes in 49 U.S. states, and even one in suburban New York City.

The Cornbelly's mazes are at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and the Herbst family farm in Spanish Fork. This year the family has created a likeness of country singer Luke Bryan as the maze for families to enjoy. More of their mazes across the country will also feature Bryan and other mazes honoring the 75th anniversary of the "Peanuts" comic strip.

"Having grown up farming in south Georgia and celebrating agriculture for the last 15 years on my farm tour, I'm honored that so many members of the farming community have chosen me to feature in their corn mazes across the country," Bryan said in a press release.

In its Spanish Fork sunflower maze and pumpkin patch, Cornbelly's has a Snoopy maze.

"For 75 years, 'Peanuts' has charmed, delighted, and moved fans through my father's creativity and wit — and what a wonderful way to celebrate his work than with the ingenuity of these 'Peanuts' corn mazes!" said Jill Schulz, daughter of cartoonist Charles Schulz, in a statement.

Across the country, family farmers have turned to corn mazes to help get them through the year's financial difficulties.

Herbst was a pioneer in what is now called "agritainment," forms of agricultural entertainment that raise enough money for farmers to keep their land. In the Beehive State, it's done that and more.

"We're a Utah tradition," said Kamille Combs, of Cornbelly's, emphasizing that it started as simply a "word of mouth" venture.

Cornbelly's maze times:

• Lehi at Thanksgiving Point: Mondays — Saturdays through Nov. 2. Open 4-10 p.m. Mondays — Thursdays, and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and fall break days
• Spanish Fork Pumpkin Farm: Mondays — Saturdays through Nov. 2. Open 4-9 p.m. Mondays — Thursdays and 10 a.m.-11 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and fall break days
• Insanity Point Haunt in Lehi: Friday, Sept. 27, through Oct. 28. Open Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m.