Corn maze tribute to overcoming adversity

LA SALLE, Colo. — Glen Fritzler admits back when he first decided to devote roughly 15 acres to creating a corn maze for visiting families and school groups, he never dreamed drought-induced shortages and ethanol-fueled demand would one day push corn prices to nearly $10 a bushel.

That was 13 years ago, when corn prices were lucky to break $2 a bushel. In today's market, corn is worth four times that and brings in around $1,600 per acre in gross revenue.

"Diversification was the reason we chose to do this," he recalls. "We were just crop farmers at one point and needed to diversify to be more profitable. It was a secondary benefit that people would be able to come to the farm and learn more about where their food comes from."

In the new era of crop production, commodity prices exceed what many farmers ever thought they'd see. But while U.S. agriculture has been pushed to the limit in recent years to meet the demand for grain, Fritzler has successfully diversified some of his acreage into agritourism and plans to stay the course.

Despite the loads of work and the potential liabilities that go into opening the farm to the public, he is committed to the annual maze, which has evolved into one of the largest and best-known agritourism attractions in Colorado. It is expected to draw an estimated 30,000 visitors through the end of October.

"You can't just snap your fingers and have a corn maze," he explains. "We've spent 13 years developing the market. If you don't do it, then 2013 rolls around and corn's back down to $4 to $5 again, you've lost all your customers."

Images of adversity

The farm's fall opening coincides with the beginning of football season and this year Fritzler and his son Trevor capitalized on it by designing the maze to depict Denver Broncos veteran quarterback Peyton Manning. The image captured the attention of state and even some national media outlets.

"The media blitz was amazing," Fritzler said.

Though the maze was designed last winter and planted in April, the choice to feature Manning turned out to be more appropriate than the Fritzlers could have guessed at the time.

The Broncos' new team leader has been forced to confront adversity, and so have farmers.

Area TV stations alone have run at least 17 stories on the severity of this summer's drought, many of them featuring Fritzler and his farm. The latest crop estimate by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture — due for release this week — is expected to show that corn supplies have dipped to their tightest level in almost 20 years.

What upsets Fritzler more than the drought is the inability of area farmers to tap excess water being stored underground when they urgently need it to sustain their crops.

"Our forefathers dug these wells for the years when surface water was low or inadequate, so we would have a constant supply of water to irrigate our crops," he said. "Now we don't have that built-in insurance policy anymore."

Irrigation has been restricted and in some cases prohibited in the South Platte basin ever since a controversial court ruling back in 2006 gave priority to senior water rights holders further downstream. More than 400 farmers are affected by the ruling.

Fritzler said four times the equivalent of Nebraska's Lake McConaughy has been seeping into basements and damaging leach fields as the area's aquifer rises. He has personally testified to state legislators about the problems, joined area farmers in appealing to state officials for further legal clarification on the issue and pleaded with Governor John Hickenlooper to take action to resolve the crisis.

Other challenges such as the stalled Farm Bill process, higher operating costs and urban encroachment all pale next to the water fight, he said.

"The water issue is front and center. Many farmers won't be able to survive another year like this," he said.

Even if Colorado has a snowy winter, it won't be enough to fully recharge the reservoirs. Similar water shortages are also rampant in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, setting the stage for more conflicts next year and beyond. In recognition of the lengthy process required for drought recovery, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced four regional drought response workshops, the nearest of which is scheduled for Oct. 15 at the state fairgrounds in Pueblo.

While Fritzler worries that 2013 "could be a more serious situation than 2012," he takes some solace from the success of the diversification path he chose to follow more than a decade ago.

For example, his pumpkins are thriving in the warm, dry weather so devastating to other crops. About 50,000 acres of pumpkins are planted nationally.

"By far, these are the best pumpkins we've ever had," he said.

Sunny weather also brings bigger crowds on the weekends, which is vital to the profitability of the maze during the short season it remains open, from mid-September through the end of October.

This year Fritzler invested in equipping four old school buses with paintball guns for a new "zombie hunting" feature to go along with a pumpkin cannon and pedal go-karts. Running an agritourism business requires continually creating new attractions, he said.

Whenever he has the chance, though, Fritzler also uses his interaction with the public to drive home the challenges farmers are facing.

"They do comment that they've seen me on TV, and they are surprised by our inability to use our wells," he said of the reaction he gets from visitors. "They realize we've been doing this for 60, 70, even 80 years, and all of sudden it's been shut off. They are very supportive and frustrated along with us."