New York, USA - A Mennonite farmer who claimed he would suffer "eternal damnation" if he complied with the state's numbering system to sell ducks won't be expected to follow the rule after all.
State Agriculture Department officials said Friday it had erroneously advised poultry farmers that they would need a number to participate in the state's avian-influenza monitoring program this year.
Spokesman Christopher Ryder said officials realized the error only after Landis sued the department on Thursday.
"Apparently, they changed their mind at the last moment," Landis said.
The lawsuit said he and other members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Mennonite Church believe the Bible's book of Revelation warns that numbering systems that require participation as a requirement for doing business are the work of the Antichrist.
"He sincerely (believes) that if he, as a Christian, were to participate in such a numbering system, it would result in his eternal damnation," the lawsuit said.
Landis contends that the state rule unconstitutionally violates his religious beliefs and that the state has no authority to require participation in the voluntary federal program. The federal program is designed to help officials respond quickly to outbreaks of disease and other health threats.
Landis raises thousands of Muscovy ducks, a variety that his lawyer says has leaner meat than other ducks. He gets ducklings from a hatchery and keeps them on his Lebanon County farm for about three months, then ships them for sale at live-bird markets in New York City.
New York requires farmers to participate in a monitoring program or pay for private testing of their flocks before they can be sold in the state, Ryder said. Landis chose to satisfy that requirement by participating in Pennsylvania's voluntary monitoring program for 20 years, according to the lawsuit.
Ryder said department officials expect to reach an accommodation with Landis and will contact other farmers to ensure that they know that participation in the federal program is not mandatory. Ryder said he did not know how many farmers received the incorrect notices.
"We are in the process of working it out," he said Friday night.
About two-thirds of Pennsylvania's more than 42,000 income-producing livestock farms are currently registered, according to USDA estimates. Nationally, fewer than one-third of the 1.4 million farms are registered.