By Donald McCrimmon

Contributing writer

For Cazenovia residents, our Amish neighbors have become a fixture, and a significant force in the rehabilitation of farms and other often-distressed rural properties. Amish enterprises such as Troyer’s Country Store on Nelson Road, which opened in 2009, add to the foundation of the business community around Cazenovia, as well as Madison Country.

With a cultural mandate for reliance on obtaining much of their energy “off the grid,” Amish business and families often have a “low carbon footprint” through sustainable energy resources including: solar, wind and limited fossil fuel use. For many Cazenovians, particularly noticeable is the Amish use of horse power in farming — not horsepower, but horse power.

According to an Elizabethtown College study, the 2016 Amish population in New York State is estimated at 18,360, an almost five-fold increase over the course of a quarter-century that ranks New York fourth in the U.S. behind Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana. In 2010, 217 adherents to Amish religious tradition were living in Madison County, according to the Association of Religious Data Archives.

Farming is held in high esteem in Amish life, and the Amish retain a distinctly rural identity. In many places, however, farming is of diminishing importance as a source of income, relegated to part-time status in preference to small family enterprises including store- and shop-keeping, construction, furniture building, crafts such as quilt-making, bakeries and greenhouses. By contrast, according to John Troyer, 48, patriarch of the Fenner-based Troyers, in the 21-family Canastota Amish Settlement, organic farming for the production of milk and other dairy products, as well as raising grass-fed stock for sales of meat, represents a major and rapidly growing source of revenue.

The July 6 Republican featured my article, “Making hay in Cazenovia,” that described a fairly large-scale harvesting operation at the corners of Ridge and Maple Roads. Hay, I learned in working on that story, is the single-most important agricultural commodity in the state of New York. On Aug. 20, as I was looking again for other photographic possibilities, a strikingly different method of harvesting hay caught my attention.

At the corners of West Mile Strip and Nelson roads, not more than a mile or so from Troyer’s store, an Amish crew of three men and eight horses were raking rows of newly cut hay using the animals alone to pull their equipment. The scene was bucolic, almost tranquil, save for an occasional command, “Get-up” or “Whoa,” modulated conversations among the harvesters and the rustle of cut grasses being formed into rows of hay. Nothing disturbed the pastoral scene.

Over subsequent weeks, I spent time with Troyer seeking more information about Amish farming and business. In addition to their country store, the Troyers harvest hay on about 100 Madison County acres, and run a 50-head dairy farm using that hay for forage. It’s all a family operation.

As many as four cuttings of hay can be done in season, and combined operations over 35 to 40 acres take two, six-to-seven-hour days per cutting, mowing one day and raking and bailing the next. Two or three teams of horses are used. In contrast to making square bales that are then carried to barn storage in hay wagons of the sort that I reported previously, the Troyers bale large rolls of hay, placing them end-to-end and covered with plastic to form long white rows for outdoor winter storage.

There’s plenty of conventional mechanical gear, mowers, rakers and balers that are used in all aspects of the Troyer’s harvesting operation. The striking difference is the use of horses rather than tractors for pulling the equipment. Unlike tractors, horses need rest and individual care.

“You look to see if they’re tired or sweating,” said Troyer. “Give them water, feed them after five hours of work and watch their shoulders under the harnesses to look for sore spots. Sometimes, you need to give them a week off.”

Though real work was being done, the hay raking I observed had seemed relaxed, almost effortless. Asked how hard it really was, Troyer replied, “If the horses are trained well, it’s not hard at all.”

Children are usually 13 to 14 years old when they first learn to control a team. They are started with an experienced two-horse team and can move up to teams of four in time.

Still, I wondered if there was a religious mandate to use horses and avoid tractors. The answer surprised me. “We’re not completely restricted,” Troyer said. “We shape our operations to the scale of family life. We do use tractors for some aspects, for example moving very large bales or loading manure on the spreader. But our culture believes in holding on to things that others no longer see value in.”

I began to see the reasoning behind using horses in field operations and, more familiarly, for transportation.

I also began to see a common theme in Troyer businesses — store, dairy farm and hay-making: family life.

“The family is the center,” said Troyer. Keeping things manageably-sized is important, too. “All small businesses, Amish or not, need to focus on specialty markets,” he continued, noting the inability to out-compete larger-scaled enterprises that rely on volume for profit. “America is still the land of opportunity. Many markets are not filled. You need to do something not otherwise being done in your small corner.” Catering to specialty needs along with “good, common, ethical business practices and keeping high standards” are all essential to the Troyers’ enterprises.

According to Troyer, from these simple principles, success often follows for Amish businesses. “Only about 5 percent of Amish businesses fail,” he noted, a small number compared to that of the larger society. When I asked why, he replied, “We bring our core values and are willing to attribute more to our labor.”

There is also recognition of limits. For example, Troyer says that small Amish businesses recognize their strengths as specialty producers, and then will often team up with outside marketing specialists for distribution.

But I learned that there is another, perhaps most important reason: support within the Amish community. When a new Amish business is planned, developed and then put into operation the community is there all along the way for help and insurance. “As a group, we don’t let them fail” Troyer concluded.

Donald McCrimmon is a former academic vice president at Cazenovia College and, in retirement, serves as McDevitt Research Associate at Le Moyne College.