Mountain View Farm and Vineyard is located in Roanoke,Va and is run by Andy and Megan Siebel. The farm was purchased in the early 1960's. They have 450 acres of grapes, pasture, and hay land. They had dairy but switched to beef and then in 2000 put in the grapes. Megan manages all of the labor, chemical spray, and books for the vineyard. They have 100-120 cow/calf pairs that they A.I. with Angus and breed back to Hereford. They have a total of 20 acres in grapes that produce between 100-80 acres of fruit.
They have 8 different varieties of grapes. The start-up cost per acre is $25,000 and make no money in the first 3-5 years. Finally at 7 years out they break-even. Each vine has 60 feet of roots. They have a large perimeter fence to attempt to keep wildlife out but it doesn't always work. They are not an organic operation and they have contracts for their grapes. The cows do winter graze the vineyard area.
This was a totally different aspect of agriculture that was very interesting to see. Especially how they harvest the crops.
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