DOUGLASS TWP., MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. — A father-daughter team has released a new reality show about renovating a farm just south of the Lehigh Valley.
"Flipping Farms," co-hosted by Jeff Peiffer and Rachel Lynn, of Berks County, follows the pair as they complete projects to upgrade a 95-acre horse farm in the Gilbertsville section of the township in northwestern Montgomery County.
While the show is focused on renovation, grabbing the attention of viewers with before-and-after transformations, the duo said they also wanted to create family-friendly entertainment while working to preserve existing farms from development.
The first season, with eight episodes, is available to buy on Amazon Prime, or free with ads on YouTube, and coming soon to streaming service Tubi.
“Our goal is to help farmers to be successful with farming and also, where we can, to save farms from being developed in metropolitan areas where a lot of the farms are being turned into housing developments."Jeff Peiffer
“Our goal is to help farmers to be successful with farming and also, where we can, to save farms from being developed in metropolitan areas where a lot of the farms are being turned into housing developments,” Peiffer said.
“So we want to save farms wherever you can, and those generational farmers, we want to help them to be successful, because especially smaller farms that are generational in nature, it's really tough for them to make a living.
"So by just putting a little twist on it, we can help them to be successful and keep their farm.”
‘They call me Farmer Wannabe’
Asked what got him into farming, Peiffer said he’s “the furthest thing there is from a farmer.”
“They call me Farmer Wannabe,” he said. “I just enjoy living on farms and owning farms, but I'm not a farmer.”
An entrepreneur who has run more than a dozen businesses, the idea for the show came after work already was underway on the horse farm, he said.
“For about 20 years, I was, like, ‘Our life would make a great TV show,’” Rachel Lynn said.
“It's always been something I've said, and about four or five years ago, my dad said, ‘All right, if you feel like you can make it happen, then give it a go.’”
While signing the papers to buy a crop farm, Peiffer said, he heard about a nearby horse farm that was run down, in need of repairs and updating.
“The horse farm, after I bought it, many people have come to me and said that they looked at it to buy it, but it was in such bad shape, they were not willing to try to fix it up, because it was in such a dire situation,” he said.
Of the 21 horses that came with the property, one had to be euthanized because it was so sick, and several were lame, Rachel Lynn said.
“The horse community really came together and rallied around us, because we were very new to the horse industry," she said.
"And they helped with rehoming the horses, helped with selling the horses that we could sell.”
With the animals gone, the pair could focus on cleaning out the property, including a full gut of the barn and all new fencing.
“It took years to bring it up to where it was when we sold it,” Rachel Lynn said. “The cameras came maybe the last year we had the farm.”
For filming, the pair worked on renovating the farm house’s summer kitchen into a living room. They also updated a viewing room overlooking the indoor horse arena.
An old shed on the property became what Pieffer dubbed a “horse cabana,” a cinderblock structure painted and staged as a comfortable seating area near a field.
“A lot of the designs were based around the horse business, but our viewers didn't get to see the whole backstory," Rachel Lynn said.
"So we're excited for season two, for them to see it from the ground up.”
‘It's truly entertainment’
Unlike home renovation shows, each episode throughout the season focuses on an individual project at the same farm.
“We can't be like a traditional house renovation show [with] one house per episode,” Rachel Lynn said. “For us, each season is a farm, and then each episode is a design.
"So the viewer will get to see a before and after, completely finished in each episode — but the whole season follows one farm.”
But during the projects, antics ensue.
“It's truly entertainment,” she said. “You're laughing at my dad wearing a bathrobe or singing a chicken song that he wrote.
“And I think that, because we offer the element of design and the element of humor, all ages enjoy it, and I feel like it's something that the majority of people will enjoy watching.”
Creating a family-friendly reality show that highlighted a positive father-daughter relationship was important, Peiffer said.
“That's what our world needs, quite frankly, I feel like the industry has been pushing the envelope to the left so far and just producing stuff that's not wholesome and even like finding positive role models for like parents and children.”Jeff Peiffer
“All parents will be able to have their children watch it and not be concerned about content that they wouldn't approve of,” he said.
“So there's no inappropriate dress, there's no alcohol, there's no off-color jokes. It's just totally wholesome.
“And that's what our world needs, quite frankly. I feel like the industry has been pushing the envelope to the left so far and just producing stuff that's not wholesome and even like finding positive role models for like parents and children.”
Second season coming
So far, feedback has been positive, he said.
“What they really love about the show is the relationship that she and I have, and then it's genuine. It's not pretend. It's real,” he said.
“We truly love each other, care about each other, and can work together.”
With the first season out, the pair already is working on the next.
While keeping many of the details under wraps, Rachel Lynn said they’re focusing on updating a Berks County farm while giving back to the surrounding community.
“For 'Flipping Farms' in the future, some might be agricultural, some might be more agro-tainment," she said.
"But we are not farmers, so we would partner with local farmers and make it a win-win for us and for them."
