Freeze, drought take bite out of fall tourism (Brett Hoffman)

Austin Johnson, 8, of Greenfield, Ind., and his mother Michelle pick pumpkins in a patch at the Tuttle Orchards, in Greenfield, Ind., Monday, Oct. 8, 2012. The orchard had a good pumpkin crop but canceled public apple-picking this year after a series of sub-freezing nights zapped apple blossoms lured into early bloom by unusually warm March weather. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS — Devastating spring freezes and a historic drought have stripped some charm from rustic fall destinations, leaving some corn too short to create mazes, orchards virtually devoid of apples and fall colors muted.

Extreme weather has forced agritourism ventures in the heart of the country to scramble to hold onto their share of an industry that generates hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Pat Schaefers, who runs Schaefers Corn Maze near Lollie, Ark., hopes visitors to the farm's two mazes won't mind that the corn is just 6 to 8 feet this fall — up to 4 feet shorter than the wall of corn families and school groups normally pay to get lost and turned-around in.
"It's just not up to par," she said of the corn in her two mazes. "It's not anything like it's been in past years."

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