Central Michigan farm ready to welcome fall visitors despite challenges

FLUSHING, Mich. (WNEM) – Crops are growing, preparing for the fall harvest, and visitors are eager to sip cider, pick a pumpkin and navigate a corn maze.

But what can get lost in the excitement of the season are all the obstacles farmers had to overcome to bring us these fall memories.

A central Michigan farmer said economic and natural forces have created some challenges.

As they enter their seventh year in business, Flushing Farms has set big goals for the season. Confident in the work they’ve done, they feel they’ve set the bar high.

“I think it’s looking good. We were pretty busy over Labor Day weekend, which was great,” said Sandy Seibt, manager of Flushing Farms.

Starting a week earlier than many others for their fall season, Seibt said it’s all about sticking to a well-tuned game plan to keep the masses happy, offering a selection of corn mazes, tractor train rides and farm animals to pet and feed, and don’t forget the flowers.

“We have a wide variety of flowers this year. It’s pretty popular. We had an event on Friday night when nothing else was open, so we did it during the summer,” Seibt said.

Part of the farm’s success, Seibt says, is that it looks for ways to keep the experience fresh.

“We add new things every year. This year we got new props for photographers in the flower field. We expanded our offering to barrel trains and bouncy castles,” she said.

Seibt expects this year’s crop to have some unique characteristics and even more crops than last year. Even with the challenges of deer eating the pumpkins, she said the crops were still good.

“It’s a lot, yes. They love sunflowers, so we have to spray and spraying is quite expensive to maintain them,” she said.

Seibt said what customers see is the result of things they don’t see, noting that farms face the same inflation issues as everyone else.

“Everything from salaries, insurance, seeds, fertilizers, all those kinds of things. Supplies for the concessions. Everything has increased, so it’s a struggle,” she said.

But the farm entered the season with a plan: It planted in February and March, and by Wednesday, Sept. 4, optimism was running high as it continually tries to find ways to attract more customers.

“A lot of people don’t know we’re here. You know, we’re kind of hidden away out here in the woods. But it’s beautiful, and we want everybody to spread the word and bring their friends and family to join us,” Seibt said.

Flushing Farms said it is still working on planning a large mid-season event and will share details once they are finalized.

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