One of nearly 200 Amish families in the Kalona area, Bontrager’s 80-acre farm no doubt looks much the same as his father’s, and that of his father’s father.

At first glance, the Swartzentruber Amish of St. Lawrence County, New York, look to be self-reliant stewards of a bucolic and unchanging landscape.

Bontrager is one of 15 or so Amish farmers who have formed a new cooperative to sell goods in bulk, and who are preparing to construct a new sales building this spring to host twice-weekly auctions.