Amish population booms, diversifies

Columbus Dispatch

KENTON, Ohio

The bustling produce auction that drew hundreds of people to a spot in the middle of nowhere yesterday is a business born of necessity.

The Amish population, which a new study says is growing in this country at an unexpected rate, is diversifying. It has to, its leaders say, as the number of families in the religion grows and they search for new places to build homes and more ways to earn a living.

The Scioto Valley Produce Auction, which is held by the Amish in Hardin County every Tuesday and Friday through the summer, is a way for families to make do with less acreage and still produce a for-profit crop.

“The land was getting high-priced and, as we grow, more was harder to come by,” said Daniel Bontrager, a bishop in his community and an authority figure in the Hardin County settlement of 200 or so Amish families. “The young people needed something to do, and we’d rather all stay here together and stay close. The auction helps us do that.”

This is the auction’s second summer, and its hundreds of non-Amish customers come each week.

An Ohio State University study released this month shows that the North American Amish numbers are doubling every 22 years, a staggering growth that even researchers didn’t expect.