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Megan Seibel

Mountain View Farm and Vineyard is nestled along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the rolling hills of scenic Southwest Virginia.  The 20 acre vineyard is part of 400 acres of farmland located near Roanoke.  Urban sprawl has impacted the operation, which once managed as much as 500 acres including owned and leased land.  The Seibels, Megan and Andy, have a long history of agriculture; Andy's family has been farming the hills above the Roanoke Valley since the 1960's.  They started the farm with beef cattle, but grew and transitioned into an 80-head dairy, in operation until the mid 80’s.  The Seibel family has managed a 100-head commercial Angus cow-calf herd for the past 25 years.

Megan has a lot of experience in agriculture, but not without a little bit of transition.  Megan's education began with an undergraduate degree in nursing.  She worked in the medical field for several years.  Her interest in health and well being lead her back to graduate school, where her research thesis took a look at community health learning and agricultural industry efforts to address obesity.  Megan earned a M. S. in Career and Technical Education from Virginia Tech. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education.       

At the turn of the century (2000), the Seibels were thinking of ways to diversify their family farm, all while working full-time and taking classes. The Seibels owned 350 acres and leased 150 acres of the 500 acres they had in livestock production.  They knew and understood the micro climates of the Roanoke area and what it took to produce a crop on steep terrain.  With some research and investigation, they embraced the idea of grapes and a vineyard.  "We found this crop that loves growing on the side of a mountain".   Megan and her family planted 3200 grape vines the first year, 2000.   They added grape vines each year, with the largest and final expansion in 2008 with the addition of 4800 vines. Today they have approximately 13,500 grape vines of the following various varietals: Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Viognier, Pinot Grigio, Petit Manseng, and Pinot Noir.  The vineyard produces between 80 and 100 tons of grapes, annually, and they are sold to several wineries across Virginia.  Megan says, "Buyers want more but we don't have plans to expand immediately".    

Mountain View Farm & Vineyard is run by Megan, her husband, Andy, and one full-time worker, who is like part of the family.  They use seasonal labor for winter pruning, some summer canopy management and fall harvest.  Hiring a specialized crew from the central part of Virginia has increased the Seibel's efficiency.  The crew of 10 can come in and complete tasks in 2 days that once took 3 adults a winter full of weekends and evenings to accomplish.  Megan says her busiest times of the year are Fall Harvest and Calving seasons.  She does not have much down time. 

Megan was recently employed as the director of the VALOR program."The Virginia Agriculture Leaders Obtaining Results (VALOR) program will provide a sustainable future for Virginia’s agricultural community by maximizing potential for successful growth through a system of networking, collaborative decision-making, and development of strong leaders."  She works full-time, is a mom, and runs the vineyard and farm alongside her family.  Megan says that she not only enjoys working off the farm, but it is necessary to make it come together.  Both she and Andy work full-time off the farm to provide living expenses for their family of five.  Financial operation of the farm is managed separately and this arrangement is necessary as they continue to work toward keeping the farm in the family.

The Seibels are at a point in their production where they are reinvesting most, if not all, profits back into the vineyard to ensure growth and future productivity and profitability.  Grape vines take time to grow, mature, and harvest.  Often it is 3 years before the first harvest.  When asked about advice to offer other beginning farmers, Megan says determining what terms on a loan to seek is a huge consideration because not all farm equipment and plants depreciate the same way.   Megan also adds, "Additionally, the off-farm work has allowed our family to have other opportunities and keeps us well-rounded, albeit exhausted.  It has allowed us to do a lot of family goal-setting and diversifies our lives."  

Megan and Andy are self-taught when it comes viticulture.  They have learned a lot about the cultivation and chemistry involved with high quality grape production. They have been producing grapes for a little over a decade.  “Virginia is a wonderful state for technical information,” said Seibel, citing Extension support and information disseminated to industry producers through research specialists.

The Seibel family falls into the category of “transitioning” beginning farmers.  They have been producing grapes for a little over a decade, but they do not have owner status.  They are individuals who are family farm members who have decision making roles on the farm without having primary farm operator status. They run the vineyard, but do not own the land. Andy’s mother has ownership of the property and other farmland is leased.  The original early vineyard plantings and the cattle herd are shared investments and expenses between the two generations and Megan and Andy have made other improvements and additions to the operation on their own over the years.

Megan, and Mountain View Farm & Vineyard, has been involved in the Virginia Beginning Farmer & Rancher Coalition.  She is very active at the stakeholder level as a voice of a producer/farmer, and Megan represents the beginning farmer perspective on the steering committee.   She truly plays a vital role in the project and Virginia agriculture.