HERE'S a novel farm diversification.

Pictured above is a maize maze, designed by Helen Chappel and created by her father, David Chappel, who farms at Boston Park Farm, near Doncaster. It is open to visitors until the end of September, from 11am (last entry at 6pm).

Besides finding the way through the maze, there are four target points at which can be found ink pads and stamps. Anyone collecting all four stamps will be entered into a prize draw. Children are given a flag to wave if they get lost.

The maize, now two metres high , was sown on May 14 in the shape of a tractor. It will be harvested in mid-October for silage to be fed to the farm's sheep through the winter.

Mr Chappel says one acre of forage maize is sufficient to feed two cows for the winter. They would produce 16 tonnes of slurry, which when spread on the land provides enough nutrient to grow one acre of forage maize.