Amish See Step Toward 'Mark Of The Beast' In Livestock ID Numbers*

Apr 20th, 2007 8:15 AM

by Tim Hundt

About 200 Amish dairy producers met with State Sen. Dan Kapanke and
former State Sen. Brian Rude last week to express their concern over a
state law that they say is forcing them to choose between religion and
dairy farming.

The law, known as the "premise ID" law, passed the state legislature
three years ago and requires all farms with animals to register with the
state and a get a farm ID number. There was an "animal ID" component to
the law that would have required registering individual animals, but
that has been put on hold.

While meeting in an auction barn on Irish Ridge near Cashton, a number
of Amish producers cited specific Bible passages (Revelations chapter
13, verse 7 and chapter 19, verse 20) that refer to buying and selling
of animals that are numbered and consider it the "mark of the beast."
And for some producers it comes down to some strongly held beliefs
versus continuing with their livelihood.

As one producer put it, "Look at all the electronic gadgets in the
world, have they done more good for the American family or have they
done more evil?"

According to Donna Gilson of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade
and Consumer Protection (DATCAP), state officials have given farmers
more than a year to come into compliance with the law, but as of May 1
it will not be possible for any dairy producer to renew their dairy
license without a premise identification number. Gilson said 90 percent
(about 54,000) of farms have registered and there has been a high degree
of acceptance in the Amish community, but there are some religious
concerns among some Amish sects in the Coulee region.

To further complicate matters, a number of the local Amish producers
were given a premise ID number without their knowledge. Bentley Lein is
a management consultant with the creamery that buys the milk from many
of the Amish producers and helped moderate the meeting. Lein said the
creamery gave the state the information on many of the producers to get
the ID numbers because the creamery was trying to help implement the law
in a way that was religiously sensitive. Lein said the creamery board
consulted with the elders of the community and a decision was made to
give the producers a number without heir knowledge thinking that would
avoid the conflict because producers would be unaware of the number.

In a separate phone interview, Lein said that backfired when many of the
producers found out they had a number and wanted to know how they could
get rid of it.

"It was done with the best of intentions," Lein said speaking to the
producers. "We asked how do we implement that law and yet make it fit
your religious practices. The creamery board of directors clearly wanted
to defer to the will of the Amish community."

A number of the producers at the meeting said they may stop selling milk
and or animals if they cannot operate without the number.

Kapanke and Rude, who sits on the nine-member DATCAP board, both said
the law is likely here to stay. Both were also aware of fear in the
Amish community over the law.

"I think there was a letter sent out that said you don't follow the law
their will be fines etc," Rude said. "I think we can get people to
participate in this without being threatening or using heavy-handed
tactics like that."

Rude said the intent of the law was a good one, which is to have a way
for state officials to communicate and deal more effectively with animal
health issues in the case of a disease outbreak or a potential outbreak.

"An example might be if there was a bird illness of some kind in Door
County and the state wanted to contact all producers with chickens; this
would be a way they could contact all those producers and let them know
what was going on," Rude said.

Kapanke said there is a terrorism component to the law since it would be
easier to deal with terrorist attempts to contaminate the food chain if
more is known about how many animals are at each location.

Kapanke said he has met with producers before to find a solution to the
issue, but most of those ideas will not work. Kapanke said he has looked
into using fire numbers instead of a farm ID number, but that will not
work since the numbers could be the same from county to county.

"County Road D could be anywhere in La Crosse, Vernon or Monroe County,"
Kapanke said. "It's just not specific enough. We just need to find a way
to make it possible for the state to have the ability to communicate
with everyone as quickly as possible and still make it palatable for
everyone."

"Does the fact that many of you were unaware you even had the number
give you a clean conscious religiously on this?" asked Kapanke.

The answer Kapanke got to that question from a number producers was a
resounding "no." A number of producers asked how it was possible that
they were assigned a number without their knowledge or signature. Lein
said that all the state needed was the producers name and location and
the creamery gave the information to the state in an attempt to follow
what the elders had wanted, which was to issue numbers without the
knowledge of the wider community.

"Many of you don't know your number," Lein said. "We took this issue out
of the community and tried to deal with out in the English community."

That led to some producers asking how they can get rid of the number if
they don't want it. Lein said he was told by state officials that the
only way to dissolve the number is to sell all of their livestock, send
a letter to the state saying the no longer have animals, then after a
certain amount of time buy all their livestock back. Lein said it is a
complicated scenario and after the number is dissolved the producer
would then be out of compliance with the law.

The discussion turned to potential fixes for the problem, including an
Amish check-off box on the a application form that would allow the state
to make certain assumptions about what animals are on the premises, or a
system by which the local creamery can be the point of contact that can
be used as a communication and tracking system.

For the producers, the next couple of weeks will be a time of decision
because some, who do not have an ID number, will no longer be able to
get a dairy license after May 1. Dairy licenses are renewed annually and
the renewal usually takes place in May. For those producers with a
number that they didn't want to begin with, they will have to decide if
they can live with it or if they object strongly enough that they will
get rid of the number and break the law or stop producing.

Lein said the law has had an impact on the Old Country Farms Cooperative
that he helps manage and K&K cheese that makes the cheese for the Co-op.
Lein said the board of Old Country Farms had planned "significant"
investments in the Co-op for this spring and that is now on hold pending
the outcome of this conflict. Lein said a number of the co-ops 350
producers have said the will stop production because of this issue and
depending on the number of producers the co-op's future could be uncertain.

There is still hope that a compromise can be found. Gilson said the
DATCAP board has been in contact with members of the Amish community and
on April 25 there will be a meeting in Madison to discuss this very
issue. Gilson said the meeting could produce a solution to the problem,
but as of now the May 1 deadline will be enforced.

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