Farm of the Week: Brussels sprouts farm extends to a maize maze

From his holding at Park Farm in Risby, based near Beverley, he runs a diverse arable holding which is already home to two successful businesses.

Here he grows an astonishing 3.2 million Brussels sprout plants with about five per cent of Britain's entire sprout crop grown on his farm.

He also grows vining peas which are sent to the Birds Eye factory in Hull, as well as crops of barley and wheat. Park Farm is also home to four successful fishing ponds and a cafe. However, not one to rest on his laurels, Mr Clappison has now launched his latest attraction to put Risby on the map – a maize maze.

A total of 10 acres of his 600 acre farm have now been planted with 60,000 maize seedlings that will grow into Beverley Maze, providing 10 part-time jobs.

Mr Clappison said he decided to invest in the tourist attraction to bolster the farm activity during the summer months when things tend to be a bit quieter.

Once the crop has been established it can grow up to 9cm a day.

Once the maze was grown to a metre, a juggling clown shape was cut out using sophisticated GPS satellite technology that steers an un-manned tractor around the course and cuts the maize to the ground.

At the end of the season, the remaining maze will be harvested and used as animal feed for a local dairy farmer.

Mr Clappison said: "Maize mazes have grown in popularity over the years and are a great way to get children to leave their computer games and Facebook and enjoy an interactive attraction in the fresh air instead.

"We have the large populations of Hull and Beverley on our doorstep and when we were looking for an outdoor farm-based activity for younger children this seemed like a good idea.

"It's all about location, location, location isn't it? Plus from running the fishing ponds we are used to catering to the public."

"I'm also very aware that there aren't that many opportunities for young people to find holiday jobs, so I'm hoping that the maze will keep my daughters and their friends out of mischief for the summer. It's a relatively low risk investment so I thought that I'd give it a go."

Mr Clappison's family have been farming at Risby since 1932 and it has steadily expanded over the years.

"The farm grows 220 acres of barley, a plot of sprouts which go to Morrisons and local farmers' markets, 10 acres of maize, 100 acres of wheat and 100 acres of vining peas which go to factories in Hull," Mr Clappison said.

"We are one of the few growers of sprouts in Yorkshire – we grow five per cent of the UK crop here – it's a big operation as far as we are concerned. We sow the seeds in February in green houses, transplant them in late-April/early-May and start to harvest in the main in October. So it is pretty much an all year round operation.

"Our main diversification was the four fish ponds that we run. We founded those 13 years ago and they are now well-established. We also run a cafe which is very much a farm activity."

In spite of his and the farm's high profile Mr Clappison is very happy to keep much of his business local, looking to the surrounding towns and villages when looking for employment.

And while sprout harvest time at the year's end makes for the busiest period, the farm has staff carrying out work throughout the year.

"We have 30 people in December but business is fairly constant throughout the year. Generally we probably have about an average of 10 people working here at any time.

"We have taken a few students to help with this to give them some work experience.

"There are plenty of people out there at the moment who want a job – particularly who want to work in the countryside.

"We are reasonably well-known. We employ a lot of local people and are doing a lot of things locally – most farms will only have one or two people working there."

Mr Clappison also intends to use the new maze to help educate visitors about the basics of agriculture. Already his farm is home to several well-used footpaths along which he has put up information posters letting walkers know what they are walking through and providing information about the history of the place.

He is also involved in a long-term project to restore historic Jacobean gardens which lie on his land.

Risby was once home to a stately home which Henry VIII is reported to have visited during his reign.

The house burnt down in 1784 but the family's gardens were all left intact. Using help from higher level stewardship scheme Mr Clappison has been researching the history of the place and hopes to one day return the gardens to their former glory.

"There's a lot of history here, no question," he said.