FOLEY, Minnesota — Stretching 110 acres, the Stoney Brook Farms corn maze in central Minnesota might be one of the largest in the world.
The third generation vegetable farm has fed Minnesotans for years, and now they’re hoping to entertain them. The Chmielewski family started the maze six years ago. It was mother nature that led them to try to grow the largest maze in the world.
“It’s all about adapting,” farmer Brad Chmielewski said. “The drought was hard on us last year. I think a lot of farmers are trying to recoup from that still.”
Brad grew up on the farm his grandmother started. His father Mark is still technically his boss.
“He’s my number one son,” Mark joked since Brad is also his only son.
If Stoney Brook Farms sounds familiar, it’s probably because they provide vegetables to local grocery stores like Cub Foods. The family also has a vegetable stand in St. Cloud that is popular with cabin goers heading to lakes.
Brad says the corn maze, located just south of Foley in Benton County, is a fun way to bring people onto the farm to see what they do for a living.
The possible largest corn maze in the world is due to draw in crowds, of course if they aren’t scared away by the Halloween characters in the maze design. Freddie Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Pennywise, Michael Meyers, and the Chucky doll are all part of the maze. KARE 11’s drones tried to capture them all at once, but were not able to fly high enough to cover the whole maze.
“Farming is always an adventure from one day to the next. You never know what you're going to be doing,” Mark said. “I guess that's why we like it."
Brad and Mark won’t take the credit for the corn maze idea itself. It was Brad’s wife who thought of it. The maze remained under 20 acres for the last six years. They decided to go big or go home after they found out who holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest corn maze.
“Why is the record in California? it should be a Midwest record,” Brad said.
He says the current record is in Dixon, California. The maze measures around 50-60 acres. He says if they can get someone to certify that they have the largest corn maze in the world, then it will be official. For now, if you want to check it out yourself click here.
Stoney Brook Farm’s fall activities open Sept. 10. Don’t worry about getting lost in the maze, they have a barcode you can scan to load a map!