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.