Agriculture + Lifestyle

A Fall Maze that Delivers

Posted on November 7, 2022 7:00 PM

We’re proud sponsors of the Georgia Bulldogs, and we’re not alone in our excitement over their recent victory over the Volunteers. Like a lot of Georgians, we continue to ride the wave of excitement over our reigning National Champions and our love for our Dawgs. Tanya Poppell and her farm, Poppell Farms, brings that fandom to a new level with their iconic fall maze. 

The maze features the mailman himself, Quarterback Stetson Bennett. Poppell Farms is one of our Certified Farm Markets and is family-oriented, offers hayrides, a pumpkin patch, cow-train rides, and jumping pillows. But their biggest attraction is the Stetson Maze. 

Here’s a behind the scenes secret, the maze isn’t made of corn at all, it’s Sorghum. Poppell says with the heat of South Georgia they weren’t reaching their height goal for their maze, so they switched to using Sorghum. It was an idea they had after attending a farming convention years ago. She says, in their experience,  Sorghum works better in warmer climates, is known for getting really tall and looks like a corn stalk. Their maze is made of a hybrid sorghum that presents a corn-like head on the top of the plant but isn’t heavy enough to bend over.  

So how is it all made? The Poppells came up with a design and sent it to a Maze company in Utah, which in turn created the maze from their picture. They planted their field like a checkered board and sent their row count to the maze company. The company uses graph paper and shes says it’s a lot like cross stitching because they cut the maze by rows. Did you know they cut the maze when the plants are small, just 2-3 inches in height?

They started their Fall Family Fun 22 years ago with small scale school field trips and added the corn maze in 2007. Their design is different every year, but she said this year is very special, and they’ve been working on the whole concept since the National Championship game. 

 “His story is just heartwarming and such a good life lesson for everybody, never give up just work hard.” The UGA quarterback is from a neighboring county, and she says his family has been by the farm to see it, she’s hopeful Stetson may stop by too! 

Click here for more information on Poppell Farms.  

Content and photo courtesy of Tanya Poppell