State slogan, corn maze join forces in Midland

Business
By Bill Walsh
Source: Fauquier Times-Democrat
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 2008

Crop secret

Cows N Corn works with Utah-based The Maize Co. to install the corn maze, but how the company does it remains a secret, locked away by a confidentiality clause that is part of the contract.

All she could tell us, Leonard said, is that the maze is created in June, when the corn is fairly short, that aerial photography does not play a significant role, Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) systems are not involved, "and don't just naturally assume the corn is cut" to create the maze, she said.

"We could actually do it ourselves, but it has to be done in June, and that's a really busy time for us," Leonard said. "Their crew can come in and do it in about six hours, where it might take us two or three days. So far, it has been a service that we have paid for."

The previous seven mazes have all had agricultural themes. One year, it was a rendition of the iconic painting "American Gothic." The best one, Leonard opines, was one of a scarecrow holding a glass of milk inscribed with the equally iconic "Got milk?"

That one didn't last as long as some others. Hurricane Isabel wiped it out in September, 2003.

State slogan, corn maze join forces in Midland

By Bill Walsh

Times-Democrat Staff Writer

Dairymen and women produce a commodity product, meaning that one farm's output is indistinguishable from another's , a fact reflected in the identical prices they receive from the cooperatives that buy the raw product.

Marketing isn't required until much further up the chain, and the American Dairy Association — Got Milk? — has done a pretty good job.

Jeff and Patty Leonard, owners of Al-Mara Farm in Midland, had never had to rely very much on their marketing savvy, but they are apparently quick learners.

A portion of their 1,800-acre farm is set aside for Cows-N-Corn, an enterprise variously know as agritourism or agritainment. The most distinguishing feature of Cows-N-Corn is the nearly nine-acre corn maze that they have created annually for the past eight years.

This year, the maze spells out the state slogan — Virginia is for lovers — and Patty Leonard thinks that new marketing opportunities are going to bring 15,000 visitors to navigate the maze in the maize.

"We knew that we needed to think of ourselves as a tourist destination," she said last week. "We are a farm, but we are also a tour destination.

"Not having any training in marketing, we decided to see what the Virginia Tourism Corp., had to offer."

The state organization offers a tourism orientation. "You go to Richmond, and you get to visit each department and find out what they can do to help you with your business," Leonard said.

"My daughter and I went down for an orientation. We went to the public relations department and explained everything that we do. Off the cuff, I just said, 'you know, we ought to put Virginia is for lovers in the corn maze,' and they said, 'yeah, the 40th anniversary is coming up [next year].'

"We came home, talked about it with the family. I called them back, and they were interested in working together on this. We put it in with the date 2009 because they are going to use it in publications next year."

It helps to advertise.

Leonard said that the Cows-N-Corn Web site typically gets 200 to 300 visitors a day. When the Virginia Tourism Corp., issued a press release about the Virginia is for lovers maze on Tuesday, Sept. 16, more than 700 visitors surfed in. The next day, more than 1,600 visitors had a look.

The exposure "gives a little boost to people when they begin thinking about fall things to do," Leonard said.

And, she added, it's just been fun.

There is a more serious side.

Agritourism, agritainment, "is an opportunity for farmers to add another profit center to what they already have established, another cash-flow center that they might not have had," Leonard said.

"We're not in a position to add 300 more cows, and they're telling us in the dairy industry to be more efficient with feed and labor, we should be milking 600 to 1,000 cows. That's not going to happen here in Midland, Virginia.

"Do we move away, when the land has been in the family 80 years? Do we leave all our roots to continue to milk cows?"

Not likely. Not likely

"We really enjoy visiting with the people," she said of the non-milking enterprise. "We like to see this grow because it does make us a little bit more economically viable.

"And," she added, "it's a great way for us to learn what people are thinking about farming, and it's a great way for us to tell them what we're doing and why."

The corn maze has been open since Labor Day. It is open to the general public Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and for larger groups by appointment any day of the week. The maze is open Fridays from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. (last admission,) Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 7 p.m. until the first weekend in November.

Call (540) 439-4806 for more information.

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