Amish Community Project. Approximately 650 Amish families live in east central Illinois. Amish growers produce vegetables, fruit, and ornamentals. After participating in their post-harvest meeting in the fall of 1999 and the twilight meeting in 2000, I identified that pest management and marketing of crops were the main issues facing Amish growers. I also recognized the barriers that hindered Amish growers from taking advantage of extension information that could improve production and marketing of their crops. To overcome the Amish tendency to avoid new technology, I made the following efforts: 1) established a series of contact opportunities, 2) initiated an approach for rapid diagnosis and management of crop problems, and 3) helped to improve the established cooperative marketing system. In January 2003, I received a grant from University Illinois Extension to develop an outreach program to improve production and marketing of produce in the Amish community. A workshop was conducted in March 2003 for this purpose. To enhance knowledge of crop production in the Amish community, some useful publications have been provided to Amish growers, and a small library is being assembled in their co-op center (currently the auction center). Utilization of this program has improved production and marketing of crops significantly and changed the quality of life for many Amish families and Amish communities. An article about successful farm and greenhouse production in the Amish community citing my contributions was published in the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette on May 19, 2002. The progress in production and marketing of produce in the Amish communities has been so impressive that in 2003 Amish growers decided establish an auction center (Amish Produce Auction, Inc) for their produce. The Amish Produce Auction center was inaugurated on May 27, 2004. The building is located at: 354N CR 100E, Arthur, IL 61911.  Directions to the Auction Center: I-57, Exit 203, HWY 133 west (9 miles), 100E (before entering Arthur), about 1/4 mile south of HWY 133. The center will be open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning second week of June. The Amish Auction, Inc. has 30 members (28 Amish and 2 non-Amish members). I am still working with the Amish growers to improve production and marketing of their produce. I am also trying to collect more publications for the library in the Amish Produce Auction center. An article titled “Amish Auction” was published in Agricnews (page B1) on June 11, 2004.

Mohammad Babadoost

June 2004