There’s Amish man’s face in the Hudson sisters’ cornfield in Pierpont, but you’ll need airplane or helicopter to view it.

From ground zero, the gentleman’s eyes, hat and mouth all look the same, swaths through corn stalks higher than your head, stretching toward the August sky even as the multiple paths stretch your sense of direction.

The Hudson Farm Corn Maze, advertised as the county’s first, is back for a second year. Sisters Sue, Pam and Rena Hudson have devoted the past three months to creating the face of an Amish man in the six-acre patch of field corn. Visitors have already started exploring this agricultural adventure, open daily through Oct. 31.

Located on the family farm – the Hudsons’ father died in 1995 and mother in 2005 – the corn maze is an attempt to save the farm by re-inventing it. The sisters raise a few goats on the land and lease a portion of its productive acreage to David Holden, who planted the corn field in which the sisters created the maze.

Because the corn must be planted in rows at 90-degree angles, more fertilizer and seed are required for planting a field destined to become a maze. The result is a lush, thick ocean of maize. “We have probably the best field of corn in Ashtabula County,” says Sue.

The timing of the planting was perfect this year, giving the sisters almost enough time to remove the unnecessary corn by late June. Last year, they waited until too late in the season to start the task and ended up having to cut matured stalks. That involved hauling stalks long distances out of the maze. The work overwhelmed them, preventing the sisters from completing the covered-bridge design in one section of the field

“There is more maze cut in there than there was last year,” says Pam.

While they hired a company to produce that design, this year the task was taken upon by their nephew, Mitch Hudson.

“We’re pretty fond of our Amish neighbors, so this is like a tribute,” says Sue Hudson of their design choice. She says Amish neighbors helped them last year with the huge task of hauling those corn stalks from the maze, and their Amish helpers returned to assist them again this year.

“We had four Amish boys and an Amish girl helping us out,” she says.

Mitch developed the design in April. The entire corn field was mapped out on graphing paper in five-row increments.

“I spent two to three hours a day counting off the squares,” he says. “I put about 30, 40 hours in the design.”

The design was transferred from paper to field by counting off rows and placing small flags where cuts were required. They started pulling corn when it was a few inches high.

Clearing the paths early into the season created an issue they didn’t have to deal with last year: weeds and grass growing on the paths, requiring periodic mowing. Also, the bordering stalks saw the open spaces as invitation to branch out, posing yet another maintenance challenge.

The sisters say this year’s maze is more complicated and challenging than that of 2006. Last year one of their friends cracked the maze in 55 minutes; this year, he was still wandering around after two hours.

“I think it is a real classic maze,” Sue says. “When you first go in there, you think ‘This isn’t too bad.’”

The women decided to do a corn maze because they wanted to use the family farm for agri-tourism. They say consumers are far removed from the source of their food; the corn maze gives the entire family an opportunity to visit a farm, have some fun and get acquainted with farm animals.

Goat kids run free on the property and greet visitors when they pull into the parking lot. The goats belong to the Hudson sisters and are used to keep the brush in check. Thus far, the goats have not discovered the corn field, and the sisters hope they don’t.

“They prefer weeds, briars and apple trees,” said Sue as she watched one of the white kids nibble on the lower branches of a tree.

The women plan to have a petting zoo – a lamb, pig, rabbits, chickens, goats and llama – available at the maze on weekends. They also will have a small souvenir shop, which will be run by their cousin, Rose Wiser. The shop will sell refreshments and craft items.

The maze opens 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday and closes around 6 p.m. If a family or group shows up later in the evening, Sue says they’ll take their money and let them wander around the maze. Sunday hours are 1 to 6 p.m.

On Friday and Saturday evenings nights in October, the maze is open as late as 11 p.m. Nighttime maze walkers are issued a souvenir flashlight and charged a higher rate.

For adults, the standard rate is $6 a person; children under 12 are $4. Rates go up by $2 a person when it gets dark.

The sisters say the maze drew about 700 visitors last year, which was a limited season due to the late start and bad weather. “We had only two good weekends,” says Sue.

Mud was an ongoing issue. The women say the field is dry this year, but the current prolonged wet spell is sure to produce some mud.

“Dress accordingly to the weather and the fact you are on a farm,” says Sue.

They also want to clarify that whatever is carved into the maze is a pattern and not the real item. Last year’s Star Beacon story inferred that a new covered bridge was being built in the corn field. A couple of visitors took that literally, and they unsuccessfully searched the maze for a real bridge.

“There is no Amish man standing in the middle of our field, so please don’t look for him,” says Sue.