CHILTON, Wis. — There’s a whole lot of corn surrounding Polly Roland as she walks through towering lanes off of stalks at Polly's Pumpkin Patch in Chilton.
From eye level, the corn looks like a green wall, but from above, it takes on a different appearance. The dirt lanes create a unique maze design linking Wisconsin agriculture with the 2025 NFL Draft coming to Green Bay in April.
“The Packers wanted to celebrate agriculture in Wisconsin,” said Roland who owns the pumpkin patch, and had a lot of fun with the corn maze.
The design on Roland’s farm is one of four special draft-themed mazes opening this fall throughout the state.
“I think it works great because all four have a little bit different design, and we’re kind of spaced out and about, so people could go to all four of them and have a different adventure,” she said. “There are hundreds of corn mazes also in Wisconsin that people can go to.”
The other NFL Draft mazes are located on farms in Ripon, Portage County and Bonduel.
Agriculture has a roughly $105 billion economic impact on Wisconsin every year, according to state data. While milk and cheese may be the best-known products, the state is also a leader in cranberry and cherry production.
Agriculture has also been a big part of Anna Doll’s life, who we met while visiting Polly’s Farm. Doll grew up participating in 4-H.
“I met my husband showing sheep at our local county fair, so, agriculture is so important to me,” she said. “Teaching kids about animals and responsibility with animals, and the sustainability of, you grow things and you eat the things you grow.”
Doll said this agricultural link to the NFL Draft is pretty cool.
“It’s amazing that the NFL Draft is going to be in Green Bay this year. When I saw Polly’s has this amazing corn maze with this highlighted, I was so excited,” she said. “People often think of agriculture when they think of Wisconsin because of cows, and now we’ve got this huge way to showcase that.”
The draft is expected to draw a quarter million people to Wisconsin with a projected statewide economic impact of about $94 million, according to Green Bay Packers.
For Roland it’s about more than just the bottom line.
“A lot of people don’t know about Wisconsin agriculture,” she said. “In a small town like Chilton, yes, maybe they do, and yes maybe they like coming here. We always have people from bigger towns or maybe even other countries who have never even been on a farm. It’s really nice to show them what a Wisconsin farm would be like.”
More information about tickets and hours for the corn maze at Polly’s Pumpkin Patch can be found here.