This year’s 10-acre corn maze commemorates the 20th anniversary of the creation of the World Wide Web. Symbols included in this year’s maze include http://www, a curser, hour glass, laptop computer and the @ sign. Growing Family Fun also offers weekend hayrides, firepits for groups to reserve and a pumpkin patch.

In addition to the corn maze, there are three other maze activities. The Geislers added two identical six-foot by six-foot table mazes. New in 2010 is the right turn only patio maze, a puzzle for visitors of all ages. And there is the soybean mini-maze with the e-mail envelope symbol cut in a small patch of beans.

Also included with this year’s corn maze admission is a new pedal kart racetrack. There are karts for children and adults. The activity is available during daylight hours.

Special events at the farm include the Harvest Moon Walk on Sept. 22-24 and Maze for Marfan Fall Fest on Oct. 9-10.

During September and October, the farm is open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to last admission by 8 p.m. Sunday hours are 12 p.m. to last admission at 6 p.m. General admission is $6.50 per person. Children age four and under are admitted free. For additional information, visit www.growingfamilyfun.com/. Growing Family Fun promotional partners are DEKALB and Van-Wall Group.

Something Blue is a comedic love story of a young couple about to get married. A friend is asked to film their wedding preparations. The couple takes a break from wedding planning and explores “thee corn maze” in Polk County located at Geisler Farms. 

The film contains adult language and is not appropriate for youngsters.

Visit the Des Moines Register article: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100417/ENT01/4170303/1046/ENT/Movie-shot-in-Polk-County-screens-at-Varsity

Something Blue Web site: http://www.somethingbluefilm.com/

Iowa has 92,600 farms. Land in farms covers 30.8 million acres.

Iowa raised more than 2.4 billion bushels of corn in 2009, or 18 percent of the total U.S. corn crop of 13.2 billion bushels. 
 
Iowa raised more than 486 million bushels of soybeans in 2009, or 14 percent of the nation’s 3.36 billion bushels in 2009.

Iowa has 6 hogs for every person in the state. There are more than 19 million hogs being raised in Iowa. Iowa producers marketed more than 37 million hogs in 2008.

A hen lays an average of 269 eggs per year. In 2009, Iowa’s egg producers had 53.8 million layers producing 14.47 billion eggs.

Iowa is ranked second in the nation in red meat production. Iowa ranked fourth in the United States for cattle on feed. As of January 2010, Iowa had 1.36 million cattle on feed.

There was an average of 215,000 milk cows on Iowa farms during 2009. A cow will produce an average of 6.3 gallons of milk each day. That’s more than 2,300 gallons each year.

Iowa ranked 10th in the United States for the number of sheep and lambs on farms. As of January 2010, Iowa had 210,000 sheep and lambs.

Iowa ranked third in the nation for milk goats. As of January 2010, Iowa had 29,500 milk goats.

Iowa ranked seventh in the United States for turkeys marketed with 11.5 million turkeys in 2009.

Iowa’s 39 ethanol plants produce a total of 3.27 billion gallons of ethanol annually, more per year than any other state. Thirty nine percent of Iowa’s corn is used to produce ethanol.

Iowa’s total cash receipts for farm commodities in 2008 totaled more than $24.7 billion – the second highest in the United States.

Iowa’s total agricultural exports for fiscal year 2008 were valued at more than $7.8 billion, ranking Iowa second in the nation in agricultural exports.

Information sources: National Agricultural Statistics Service, Economic Research Service, Dairy Farming Today and the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Compiled by Malinda Geisler, Growing Family Fun at Geisler Farms, Bondurant, Iowa. www.growingfamilyfun.com

Iowa also set a new record for consecutive days with at least four inches of snow on the ground. The old record of 54 days was set in 1961-1962. As of Feb. 11, Iowa had snow cover for 65 consecutive days.

As you can see, the Red Shed at Geisler Farms was surrounded by snow all winter long. A path had to be dug to the front door. It was three to four feet deep on the north side.

The patio on the south side of the Red Shed was also completely covered with snow. You could not see the swings after the third snowstorm.

The NAFDMA bus tour drew more than 225 attendees from across the United States, Canada and England and traveled through Lancaster and surrounding counties to learn more about direct farm marketing and agritourism. The tour was shortened by a half day due to 20 inches of snow that fell Feb. 5.

Lancaster County consistently ranks number one among all counties in the United States on the chart of direct sales from farms to consumers by USDA’s Census of Agriculture. The population in Lancaster County is about 500,000. Of that, the Amish population is about 25,000. Lancaster County welcomes nearly 11 million visitors each year. Peak tourist season is August through October. The county hosts 11,000 motor coaches each year.