iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I'll never get over the fact that the exec who led adoption of in-ovo sexing in the US was inspired to do so because of his young daughter.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

Current PLF tools for poultry have the promise to generate massive amounts of data, but yet don't know how to use that data. Individualized drug application technology is the missing piece, which could induce a rennaissance of innovation in poultry health.

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Reposted by Robert Yaman

Dov @drnelk.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

I thought this was parody...

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

At Innovate Animal Ag, we're trying to build the "DARPA for chickens." Technological progress is doesn’t happen by default, especially in a sector like animal agriculture. Progress requires a community of dedicated evangelists obsessed with pushing forward the frontier.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

One of the ways we've mitigated higher egg prices from bird flu is by ramping up egg imports - up over 600% since last year. If the Trump admin is worried about trade deficits, this is the wrong direction to go!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Egg prices will probably spike this winter because of bird flu. If that's giving you deja vu, there's good reason. It’s because every year we decide to do nothing about this entirely fixable problem—one that's killed tens of millions of birds and costs consumers billions.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

In my new post, I chat with Dr. Yuval Cinnamon, who IMO is one of the foremost innovators in the poultry industry. We discuss his Layers Laying Broilers technology, a way to use layer genetics for broiler production, making breeders that are more efficient and higher welfare.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

Every time a livestock animal gets sick and dies before slaughter, all the corn and soy it consumed is wasted. Every year 4.4 million tons of feed is wasted from livestock mortality, mostly from the chicken and pork industries.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

If you're like me and prefer to listen rather than read, you can now listen to The Optimist's Barn in podcast form! In true techno-optimist fashion, I used @elevenlabs.io to create an AI voice clone and was super impressed by how well it worked and how easy it made the process.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

In-ovo sexing is now launched in Brazil, a first for the southern hemisphere!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

We're climbing up on Hacker News, let's get to the front page!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

In-ovo sexing is officially available to American consumers! This is a particularly high-leverage time for the technology since many other companies will be looking to see how these first eggs perform with consumers before deciding whether to adopt the tech themselves.

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Reposted by Robert Yaman

Michael Grunwald @mikegrunwald.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Wow, I love that @robertyaman.bsky.social’s review calls WE ARE EATING THE EARTH a “fantastic book,” but I especially love his unexpected animal-rights defense of my focus on industrial efficiency. He grappled with what I actually wrote! open.substack.com/pub/optimist...

open.substack.com

Don't Demonize Efficiency in Animal Agriculture

A review of We Are Eating the Earth, by Michael Grunwald

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

New post about how humane farming for small animals will need to rely on technology, automation, and economies of scale to succeed. We can't just apply the pastoral models used for cows.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

New post on how to apply the principles of Progress Studies to animal welfare!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

The Optimist's Barn 3x'ed it's subscriber growth rate last week. We're about to blow up!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

We need more chickens to produce the same amount of meat than we did just a decade ago—why? This is one of the big unsolved mysteries in animal agriculture. I investigate a few hypotheses in my most recent post on The Optimist's Barn:

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

I've heard many people assume that post-AGI lab-grown meat will become inevitable. I'm not so sure, for two reasons:

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

Read about what the escalating trade wars and a new Dutch vaccine trial might mean for a potential US bird flu vaccination campaign:

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

One thing I've learned from running a nonprofit is that people mostly care about what you stand for, not what you do.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

President Trump's newest executive order threatens tariffs against any country that acts in a discriminatory way towards US interests. Might this include banning poultry exports because of a future H5N1 vaccine?

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Free business idea: 1) take an industry that's unlikely to widely use AI 2) every day ask Deep Research one question relevant to things in the trade press 3) copy and paste into a newsletter 4) advertise 5) profit

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

In which I use PETA controversy as clickbait so I can talk about business theory and vertical integration in animal product supply chain.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Great to see @worksinprogress.bsky.social call out in-ovo sexing as one of the most important things happening in biotechnology right now!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

When I'm writing, I know I've found the right structure for a piece when I can work in a few jokes. If things are not quite jelling I sometimes try to force things into the right form by being overly analytical.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

The costs of poultry vaccination against H5N1 largely fall on the chicken meat industry, but benefits mainly go to the egg industry. So why not vaccinate chickens in the egg industry and not the meat industry? More discussion on The Optimist's Barn:

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

As societies get richer, two things happen: the absolute cost of animal welfare goes down, and our ability to pay for it goes up. This is why economic growth will be critical to building a food system that's both abundance and humane. Link to my newest post below!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

I recently asked a donor why they give, and there response made my heart sing. Proof that you don't have to be vegan to help animals. I think many feel this way!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Niko McCarty from Asimov Press thinks that in-ovo sexing is "among the most underrated and important stories of today" and I agree! Read more in The New Biology 👇

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

If we vaccinated layers but not broilers against H5N1, would that still affect broiler exports?

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Reposted by Robert Yaman

Michael Grunwald @mikegrunwald.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

I’m a sucker for any essay whose title begins “Contra Grunwald,” si I wanted to share this thoughtful critique of my NYT piece in Big Ag. (The letters the Times ran were much less thoughtful.) The complaint is about animal welfare, and I basically agree with it. open.substack.com/pub/optimist...

open.substack.com

Contra Grunwald on Industrial Farming

The vibe shift towards realism in future-of-food is good, but don’t forget about the animals

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Reposted by Robert Yaman

Michael Grunwald @mikegrunwald.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Thanks - I think this is a totally fair critique of what I wrote. I think we basically agree, and I did say we should demand Big Ag take better care of animals, but I did kind of handwave the issue. I like what you’re doing with egg farming!

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

New post responding to @mikegrunwald.bsky.social's oped in @nytimes.com Grunwald may be right that industrial farming is necessary. But his clear-eyed realism about environmental challenges should extend to animal welfare too - both need pragmatic solutions consistent with food abundance.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Why did Whole Foods say "animal welfare standards" and not "quality standards" or "sustainability standards"? It's because know that when it comes to animal products, welfare is the #1 thing consumers care about.

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Robert Yaman @robertyaman.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Farm animal welfare is a serious moral challenge, but current solutions lack realism. Check out my Substack The Optimist's Barn for the techno-optimist lens on farm animal welfare (link in bio!)

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