The McMunigal family, new Organic Valley producers, became our most recent tenants last week on a 175 acre farm in Monroe County, West Virginia. The McMunigals will be restoring a former dairy farm near their home while building a new family business. In the background, are the foothills of the Appalachian  Mountains, a region of growing interest for new farmers and our company.

Mike McMunigal, a soil conservationist, is pictured in front of two concrete storage silos at the farm.

As a corporate guideline, we do not look for specific farmland to purchase. We  develop relationships with farmers, mostly young and organic, that want to start or grow their sustainable farm business. We only move to purchase if we have a ready, willing and able farm tenant in hand.

Mike and Callie McMunigal will be restoring this pasture based farm and outbuildings to dairy operations. In this case, our new tenants are not twenty somethings, but in mid career. Their children, Cade (12) and Maiya (7) will be helping with the transition and represent the fifth generation of family farming in the area. As we are informed, Maiya particularly loves animals and is looking forward to helping with the milking chores.

Mike has been working as a soil conservationist with the West Virginia Conservation Agency, specifically advising dairy and livestock farmers on nutrient/manure management. He has a BS in Biology from Virginia Tech. His parents still operate a cow-calf operation in Virginia where Mike and Callie co-manage the 240 acre farm. 

Callie is a biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and manages the Appalachian Partnership Office connected to the White Sulphur Springs National Fish Hatchery. She works with private landowners in both Virginias to implement habitat restoration projects. Her academic background includes a BS and MS degree in hydrogeology from Florida Atlantic University.

Negotiations on this purchase took many months and included the buy-out of a gas lease to obtain all mineral rights. The former owner was a coal mine operator and drilling on the farm was an ongoing possibility, threatening future farm operations.