An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community

Chapter 6 Work Within and Outside Tradition

a฀฀chapter 6฀฀a Work Within and Outside Tradition They are the farm. The farm is them. —An Old Order farmer T he dynamic and shifting nature of the Amish economic structure has been well documented,1 and the Holmes County Settlement has not been immune to these broad changes. As they work to maintain core cultural values, the Amish are also among those leading in the development of new economic methods and technologies. They struggle to remain true to their Christian beliefs while being buffeted by a storm of economic changes. How have they negotiated the pressures that continually confront them? This chapter offers an overview of Amish economic activities in Holmes County2 and how those activities widen and deepen ties with outside society; it then explores in more detail the consequences that have followed the movement out of farming and examines variations that exist among different Amish orders with respect to work choices, wages, and uses of technology. The final two sections of the chapter consider how the Amish have addressed the potential dangers of growing wealth within their community and discuss new areas of enterprise that serve as models for many people in the English community. ฀ a฀work within and outside tradition a฀ 175 The Amish in the Holmes County Context In 2006 Holmes County had an estimated population of more than fortyone thousand, of which less than 2 percent were members of racial or ethnic minority groups. Just over 70 percent (195,000 acres) of the county’s area is composed of farms averaging 109 acres in size. Although the farms in Holmes County are smaller, on average, than those in Ohio as a whole, they have proved to be among the most productive and energy-efficient farms in the United States.3 In 2002 the average farm in Holmes County yielded sales of $53,645, and total sales for all farms exceeded $97 million .4 Despite the past and continuing success of agriculture in the county, the proportion of Amish in full-time farming has dropped significantly. Between 1988 and 2000, the percentage of men who were farmers fell from 33 percent to 17 percent,5 and it has continued to decline to below 10 percent. The trend away from farming in Holmes County is consistent with that found in Pennsylvania and Indiana Amish communities,6 but the specific patterns of change have varied among the states. In the Elkhart-LaGrange Settlement in Indiana, a large proportion of Amish have taken factory jobs; in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, because of its proximity to major metropolitan areas, the shift away from farming has been accompanied by greater dependency on tourism, commercialism, and largescale Amish enterprises. As land costs have soared, it has become increasingly expensive to farm full time. In discussing how local Amish farmers scramble to survive, an Amish business leader concluded that “the biggest thing that probably has affected us is the price of land. You know, it’s really difficult for farmers to survive without it.”Land costs have been driven up by business growth and home developers, but in addition, demand by the Amish themselves for land has created higher costs. A local real estate representative who has worked with the Amish for decades says that the “Amish dictate the land prices in the area,” and as a result many of them have sought residences in counties in other parts of the state. Amish “will buy hunting land as a retirement plan . . . they’d rather buy land than stocks . . . A 22-year-old buys land as an investment, buys for $30,000 and sells three years later for $60,000.”A young Amish wife agrees, contending that “the reason the land prices are so high is because the Amish have money. They view it as a good investment.” 176฀ a฀an amish paradox a฀ There are some differences among the Amish, however, in the selling and buying of land. Swartzentruber Amish are more likely than others to buy and sell among themselves. Even if they could make more money by selling land to someone else, they will probably keep it in their family if they can. “One Swartzentruber family could have got $1–2 million for their Wayne County farm and moved to southern Ohio and bought eight farms, but they sold it to one of their own for $200,000.”7 Another factor, however, is that the lack of plumbing and...