Famous Idaho spuds carved into the ears of famous Idaho cornfield

By Sean Ellis

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

MERIDIAN – Idaho’s most famous corn maze is celebrating Idaho’s most famous crop this year.

The Farmstead, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year, has come up with a wide variety of entertaining maze designs over the years that have attracted national media attention.

Jim Lowe, owner of The Farmstead Corn Maze & Pumpkin Festival, said it seemed proper to celebrate the product that Idaho is best known for: potatoes.

“We just think the design strikes at the heart of the identity of Idaho,” he said. “Idaho potatoes are kind of the Cinderella story. It is this humble produce that is grown underground but it’s been a great success story that has been able to rise to such prominence.”

The design features the images of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and the words, “Famous Potatoes.”

Lowe said some people believe the state should be known for something more glitzy or glamorous than the humble potato.

“We say, ‘It’s who we are,’” he said. “Let’s embrace it and celebrate it. It is an important part of Idaho.”

Idaho potato farmers bring in about $950 million a year in farm-gate cash receipts and when the potato processing industry is included, spuds are a multi-billion-dollar industry in the state.

Idaho Potato Commission President and CEO Frank Muir said he was delighted when Lowe informed him the Farmstead design would celebrate Idaho potatoes this year.

The commission has worked with the Farmstead several times over the festival’s 22-year history and helps sponsor its current Famous Idaho Potato sack slide.

“I think it’s neat that a corn maze is actually celebrating Idaho potatoes,” Muir said.

A Farmstead news release loaded with potato puns pointed out that a national survey found out that Idaho is known more for potatoes than any state is known for anything else, “a quirky claim to fame that leads to a mishmash of eye-rolling and home state pride among natives and transplants alike.”

That survey asked people the first thing they thought of when they heard a state’s name. While every state had multiple things that ranked high, when people heard the word “Idaho,” only one thing entered their mind: potatoes.

“There was only one state that had one dominant thing it was known for and nothing else and it was Idaho,” Muir said. “There was nothing even close to us.”

Over the years, the Farmstead has come up with several unique designs for its corn maze, including the Statue of Liberty, comedian Jimmy Fallon, the bumblebee, Abraham Lincoln, and the likenesses of President Obama (on the left) and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney (on the right), during the run-up to the 2012 presidential election.

The designs have attracted the attention of major media outlets, including USA Today, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, Time magazine and CNN.