From The Press of Atlantic City — Some farmers tend to give up on their crops when the growing season is over.

They’ll turn off the water, let the corn die and watch it turn that familiar yellow color that usually is associated with fall.

It’s a color Al Butterhof doesn’t want to see just yet.

When you’re turning that field of corn into a maze, as Butterhof does every year, it helps to keep it green, keep it growing. That’s what keeps people honest, he said, by keeping them from peeking through to another side. It’s what makes the maze harder.

Butterhof owns and operates Shady Brook Farms in Mullica Township and says this, the end of the season, when there’s little else but pumpkins growing on vines, is his busy time.

Local farmers are cashing in on a relatively new industry called agritainment – a combination of agriculture and entertainment – to extend their seasons and grow profits during a time when nothing else will.

“Before we just used to call it a corn maze,” he said. “In the fall, farming becomes very slow, so you’re always looking for something different to do to bring money in. You have to think outside the box and ahead of schedule. You have to think, ‘What are we doing next year?’”

A number of attractions, sometimes bundled, sometimes by themselves, are helping farmers throughout the region tap into a new source of income at the end of the season – the family tourism dollar.

Shady Brook Farms offers several attractions in addition to the corn maze, including a hayride and pumpkin picking. Butterhof said the family farm moved toward agritainment about eight years ago when he heard a marketing director with the state mention it.

“It’s been very important for us,” he said. “The farmer in New Jersey has gone downhill, that’s why you’ve seen more of this around.”

While Shady Brook Farms has gone to some lengths to make the entire facility a draw for tourists, other farmers have chosen to incorporate pieces of agritainment to make their farms a fall draw.

Typically, Millville’s Ingraldi Farms has offered a corn maze, hayrides and pumpkin picking in the fall. Marlboro Farms, in Bridgeton, offers hayrides and pumpkin picking, and some places, such as Creamy Acres in Harrison Township, Gloucester County, offer Halloween attractions, too.

The New Jersey Farm Bureau lists about 125 farms throughout the state that grow pumpkins and, according to the bureau in a release about the fall growing season, a majority of farms sell their pumpkins at stands or farmers markets.

Bureau President Richard Nieuwenhuis said both farms and visiting families are able to take advantage of the end of the season.

“Pumpkins attract kids to the farm; families want their children to make that important connection between what they eat and where food comes from,” he said. “The pumpkin season allows the farm stand to extend their selling times. When people come for the fall activities, they also buy the other produce that’s still being picked.”

Traditional farms have gotten on board with agritainment, as have those relatively new to the game.

For Spyro Martin, agritainment began just a couple of years ago with a small pumpkin patch.

Martin, who operates Argos Farm with his wife Angela, said the Lacey Township farm, which has served primarily as an equestrian center, has fully embraced the new industry and continues to add to an already lengthy list of farm attractions.

“Our business model was equestrian services,” Martin said. “We had some extra space on our facility, so we started growing pumpkins, a little pumpkin patch. Over time we learned there was a whole other industry we could tap in to.”

This is the farm’s second year with the corn maze. Like Butterhof, Martin said October is the most important month for the industry. That’s the month most people associate with the fall season and the month when outdoor entertainment is still possible because the temperatures haven’t yet dropped significantly.

Unlike Butterhof, however, Martin believes agritainment isn’t just a way to sustain the farm or ad an extra month onto the end of the season.

“It’s a great source of supplemental income, but I would not be surprised if it becomes a primary source of income for us,” Martin said. “We happen to be right off the Garden State Parkway where there aren’t a lot of farms, so this is pretty much it for those who want the experience.”

Butterhof believes farms like his will benefit because of the economy. It’s an alternative to long trips out of state, he said, and is a cost-effective way to enjoy the season at home.

It’s why he mapped out his corn maze before the seeds even germinated and why he tended to the design with weedwhackers and lawnmowers throughout the season, because the economic benefit is something he’s banking on.

“This is it,” he said. “After this we are done until next year, until we start back up with strawberries.”