How this 10-year-old’s farming dreams hatched with Greenlight

Everyone has a different dream job. Teacher? Coder? The President? When you’re young, the world is your oyster. And when you’re 10-year-old Omri, your dream job is “Farmer who invents fruit-picking robots.” With the help of his parents (and Greenlight) — Omri is getting a solid head start.

Meet Omri

Omri likes playing games, but it’s not just Wii and Xbox. You’ll find him outside, running around with his four brothers, on acres and acres of land in central Iowa. Picture rolling plains, cornfields and Omri’s pride and joy: birds! He takes care of 15 chickens, 13 turkeys, 8 ducks, 2 geese and 2 guineas (looks like a speckled turkey). Every morning, he lets them out, feeds them, gives them water and lays down fresh bedding. It’s all part of his plan to run his own farm one day.

How Omri got started

Ever since he was little, Omri has been obsessed with farming. He likes the idea of growing and raising his own food — from green beans to eggs. In his own words, “I want to be a farmer when I grow up because having plants and animals makes it easier to feed people. And it uses less money.” Someone did their research!

Naturally, Omri’s parents were a little hesitant when they first learned about Omri’s farming dream. (What all goes into that?) But after hearing how badly he wanted to have a farm, they gave him the go-ahead. After all, it could be the perfect chance to teach Omri that hard work pays off. Enter: ducklings and Greenlight. 

To get started on his farm, Omri used his Greenlight card to order a beautiful brood of Silver Appleyard Ducklings from his “hatchery catalog.” (Yes, there’s such a thing.) Why ducklings? Omri’s family took care of ducks a few years back and loved it. They’re well-mannered, ridiculously cute and known to lay a ton of eggs. 

So, with his mom and dad by his side, Omri went to the hatchery’s site, carefully typed in his Greenlight debit card number — and boom! Omri had taken the first step to make his farming dreams come true. 

Within a few weeks, a little cardboard crate arrived at the post office. It was addressed to Omri. His birds had landed safe and sound! He quickly got to work taking care of them, but his parents wondered how they could encourage him to keep it up. Greenlight to the rescue. Mom set up the Allowance feature to pay Omri for completing his bird-duty chores. That strategy must be working because Omri is on it! 

He continues to get up at the crack of dawn — every day — to tend to his 40+ birds. It’s no small feat, especially when the turkeys are in a pecking mood. (Yep, you read that right). They require loads of feed, water, fresh air and bedding. Omri doesn’t miss a thing! When supplies run low, he lets his parents know asap. Needless to say, his birds are thriving, along with his passion for farming.

What’s next?

Now that Omri has mastered the art of raising birds, he plans to focus more on those fruit-picking robots we mentioned earlier. After all, developing the kind of AI that can check for ripeness is going to take some effort. With his work ethic, a knack for farming and encouragement from his parents, Omri will get there sooner than he thinks.

Does your child have a dream? Big or small, you can help them hatch a plan with Greenlight!