How Do You Plant a Corn Maze? A Minnesota Farm Owner Explains
Updated: Sep 19
Customers frequently ask us, “How do you plant your corn maze?” Many people assume we plant a cornfield and spend weeks cutting the maze by hand. While that certainly can be done, it is not how we create our maze at Fresh Acres.
Each year we partner with MazePlay, a company that specializes in designing and creating corn mazes. Once we have chosen the theme for the year, we send them the dimensions of our field, and they use specialized software to design a custom maze that fits perfectly within the field's dimensions.
From there, there are a few different ways a corn maze can be created.
Option 1: How to Plant a Corn Maze Using GPS
The first method is to plant only the corn that will become part of the maze.
MazePlay loads the design into the tractor’s GPS guidance system. As the tractor drives across the field, it knows exactly where to plant seed, and just as importantly, where not to plant seed. The future walking paths are simply left unplanted.
The biggest advantage of this approach is efficiency. Since the paths are never planted, there is no wasted seed or corn.
Option 2: Plant the Cornfield First, Then Cut the Maze
The second method starts by planting the entire field with corn.
Once the corn starts to grow, MazePlay comes to the farm with a tiller. Again, using GPS guidance, the tractor follows the maze design and tills the paths through the growing corn.
At first glance, this might seem less efficient because some corn is intentionally destroyed. However, after trying this method, we discovered an unexpected benefit. The tiller levels the planted rows, creating smoother, flatter walking paths for our guests. Last year was the first season we used this method, and we were really happy with the finished paths.
Which Corn Maze Planting Method Does Fresh Acres Use?
For our first seven years, we used the first method and planted the maze directly.
Last year and this year, we switched to planting the entire field first then tilling the paths. We will see how this season goes before deciding which approach we will use for our 10th anniversary maze.
When Do You Plant a Corn Maze in Minnesota?
At Fresh Acres, we typically try to plant our corn maze sometime in May or June. According to Zeke, June is probably the ideal time for us. It gives us an opportunity to deal with that first flush of weeds before planting while still giving the corn plenty of time to grow before we open for the fall season.
But, as anyone who farms knows, Mother Nature doesn't always cooperate with your plans! Weather, rain, field conditions, and weeds can all affect when we are actually able to get the corn in the ground.
In fact, in 2025 we didn't plant our corn maze until July 30 — and we opened for the season on September 6! That gave the corn just over five weeks to grow.
Was it ideal? Not necessarily. The corn was fairly short, and planting that late meant the corn didn't have enough time to develop mature ears. But since we are growing a corn maze — not a corn crop — producing ears of corn really isn't our goal. What we need is a healthy stand of corn that creates walls for the maze, and it worked!
Interestingly, the late planting also had one advantage for us: weed control. We grow our corn maze organically, which means weeds are one of our biggest challenges. By the time we planted at the end of July, most of the weeds had already been dealt with, so we had much less weed pressure competing with the young corn.
So when should you plant a corn maze in Minnesota? For us, June is probably the sweet spot. It gives us some time to manage those early weeds while still giving the corn a good growing season. But our 2025 maze proved that there can be quite a bit of flexibility when your goal is creating a corn maze rather than harvesting a crop.
Like so many things in farming, you make the best plan you can — and then work with whatever Mother Nature gives you!
Can You Cut a Corn Maze by Hand?
Absolutely!
Before GPS technology was common, many farms created mazes manually. They would draw the design on graph paper, stake out a grid in the field, and then cut the paths using mowers or tillers. It’s a lot of work, and while possible, not something we wanted to tackle ourselves. We are happy to let current technology take care of the hard work while we focus on creating a fun experience for our guests.
Next Time you Visit…
The next time you are walking through our corn maze, you will know there is much more to it than simply planting corn. Every twist, turn, and dead end was carefully designed months before the first seed was planted.
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