June Farms reality show coming to Prime Video

WEST SAND LAKE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — June Farms is 120 acres and is settled in the hills of West Sand Lake. It has quickly become one of the most sought-after destinations for a wedding or family outing in Upstate New York. And now, the farm is about to hit the big time with their very own reality show on Prime Video.

“My name is Matt Baumgartner and I’m the owner of June Farms. We are the premier events destination of Upstate New York.” Baumgartner, a Utica native and Albany restaurant entrepreneur, never thought he would end up on a reality show let alone for his own farm business. “I’ve owned a bunch of restaurants in the Capital Region for the last ten, 20 years. And now I’m a farmer. We saw the land on Zillow, and I just thought it was beautiful.”

Matt said the original idea for the farm was a simple one, “The farm was just going to be a place where I lived, and I was going to raise beef and pork for restaurants that they had and then didn’t like the sort of harvesting of the animals and then couldn’t really do it.”

Now the animals get to live their lives to the fullest, getting pampered and groomed.

“We just have to get you brushing some cows,” Baumgartner said to NEWS10’s Reporter James De La Fuente.

It’s not just cows. There are ducks, chickens, mini goats, pigs, sheep and horses. But weddings are also a big draw at farms. Chris Famelette and wife Karli’s recent wedding will be featured in the new show. “There was a group chat with Matt, and we ended up moving the wedding four months up,” explained Chris.

His wife Karli said it all happened, “The day after the ‘Save the Dates’ were sent. They did an amazing job. It was seamless. It was like it was meant to be that way. But it was insane.”

Taking care of a farm is serious business and with the addition of filming of a reality show, Matt decided to call in a good friend to help.

Local businesswoman, Tess Collins explained, “He’s always moving it in a direction that people are asking him to. So, we’re always like kind of pivoting and that’s what he’s really good at, expanding it. So, I keep asking him to just slow down a little bit. He goes; ‘I’m not doing anything this year.’ and then he calls me and says, guess what I’m doing?”

Baumgartner said the farm is continually evolving and with anticipated attention from the reality show, the farm is growing to accommodate the new interest.

“[I am] hoping to build more cabins, and then I’m trying to get approval for a pool that I’m hoping to make a member’s club for adults.”

For more information on how you can get to pet or comb a cow, feed some ducks or play with some sheep, maybe get married at the farm, check out June Farms website for more.