Beggs Family Farm season coming soon

Beggs Family Farm teamed up with Southeast Missouri State University to create its corn maze for this season. This year's maze theme celebrates SEMO's 150 anniversary.

The corn maze was created with the help of Beggs Family Farm manager Bryce Beggs. He said the corn maze starts before planting, when family members decide on the concept of the maze. The design concept took just over a week to develop, including seeking input from SEMO and considering several designs to arrive at their final design, which features a Redhawk , SEMO logo and the "making history" slogan all tied together.

Owner of Beggs Family Farm, Donnie Beggs, said the maze structure is started earlier than many may think. The corn is planted in mid-June, and the maze form is started when the corn is around 4 to 5 inches tall. He said while they could do it themselves, they hired a company to go in and follow their design concept because the specialists can lay it out in a matter of hours.

The corn maze's extravagant designs started in 2001.

Beggs added a new attraction this year -- a corn bin. This attraction will be inside a grain bin that has been on the property for as long as Bryce Beggs can remember. They are turning it into a corn play area. The corn will be a couple feet deep with toys in the bin for digging in the corn, as well as slides. Bryce Beggs said this is the attraction the family is most excited for this year.

This year's Beggs Family Farm maze theme is Southeast Missouri State University.Submitted

This year's Beggs Family Farm maze theme is Southeast Missouri State University.Submitted

Along with adding the corn bin, Beggs is expanding with a new exit building, fence and entrance ticket booths.

"The family is excited about the expansion to be adding more space into the farm to hopefully give some more room for people to breathe on our busy days," Bryce Beggs said.

Bryce Beggs said they now have more than 45 attractions and believes there is something for everyone to do. He and his family encourage families and couples to come out to the farm, from toddlers to the elderly. This year they have added live music and specialty drinks for the adult crowd.

One of Bryce Beggs' favorite attractions is the obstacle course, followed closely by the Beggs' Bird Bungalow.

The Beggs Family Farm season starts Saturday, Sept. 30. They will be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a few Thursdays sprinkled in. Thursdays and Fridays are primarily for school groups, but they are still open to the public.

There will be a SEMO day Sunday, Oct. 1. Guests who come in wearing red or SEMO gear will get a dollar off for each article of clothing within guidelines, up to $4.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.beggsfamilyfarm.com/products/online-general-admission-2023.