Robert Yaman
@robertyaman.bsky.social
Techno-optimist for animals. Founder Innovate Animal Ag, blog at http://optimistsbarn.substack.com. Not vegan. Oh, and I make music: http://spoti.fi/3EwyXa7
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.
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.
November 12, 2025 at 7:47 PM
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.
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.
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!
If the Trump admin is worried about trade deficits, this is the wrong direction to go!
October 23, 2025 at 5:20 PM
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!
If the Trump admin is worried about trade deficits, this is the wrong direction to go!
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.
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.
October 22, 2025 at 4:36 PM
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.
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.
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.
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.
September 21, 2025 at 5:56 PM
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.
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.
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.
August 20, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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.
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.
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.
August 13, 2025 at 3:12 PM
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.
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.
In-ovo sexing is now launched in Brazil, a first for the southern hemisphere!
July 28, 2025 at 3:51 PM
In-ovo sexing is now launched in Brazil, a first for the southern hemisphere!
We're climbing up on Hacker News, let's get to the front page!
July 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
We're climbing up on Hacker News, let's get to the front page!
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.
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.
July 21, 2025 at 7:29 PM
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.
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.
Reposted by Robert Yaman
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...
Don't Demonize Efficiency in Animal Agriculture
A review of We Are Eating the Earth, by Michael Grunwald
open.substack.com
July 1, 2025 at 11:59 AM
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...
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.
May 25, 2025 at 3:56 PM
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.
New post on how to apply the principles of Progress Studies to animal welfare!
May 4, 2025 at 2:43 PM
New post on how to apply the principles of Progress Studies to animal welfare!
The Optimist's Barn 3x'ed it's subscriber growth rate last week. We're about to blow up!
April 9, 2025 at 8:40 PM
The Optimist's Barn 3x'ed it's subscriber growth rate last week. We're about to blow up!
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:
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:
March 30, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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:
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:
I've heard many people assume that post-AGI lab-grown meat will become inevitable. I'm not so sure, for two reasons:
March 16, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I've heard many people assume that post-AGI lab-grown meat will become inevitable. I'm not so sure, for two reasons:
Read about what the escalating trade wars and a new Dutch vaccine trial might mean for a potential US bird flu vaccination campaign:
March 12, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Read about what the escalating trade wars and a new Dutch vaccine trial might mean for a potential US bird flu vaccination campaign:
One thing I've learned from running a nonprofit is that people mostly care about what you stand for, not what you do.
February 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
One thing I've learned from running a nonprofit is that people mostly care about what you stand for, not what you do.
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?
February 23, 2025 at 11:28 PM
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?
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
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
February 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
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
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
In which I use PETA controversy as clickbait so I can talk about business theory and vertical integration in animal product supply chain.
February 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM
In which I use PETA controversy as clickbait so I can talk about business theory and vertical integration in animal product supply chain.
Great to see @worksinprogress.bsky.social call out in-ovo sexing as one of the most important things happening in biotechnology right now!
February 3, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Great to see @worksinprogress.bsky.social call out in-ovo sexing as one of the most important things happening in biotechnology right now!
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.
If things are not quite jelling I sometimes try to force things into the right form by being overly analytical.
January 31, 2025 at 2:13 AM
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.
If things are not quite jelling I sometimes try to force things into the right form by being overly analytical.
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:
So why not vaccinate chickens in the egg industry and not the meat industry?
More discussion on The Optimist's Barn:
January 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
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:
So why not vaccinate chickens in the egg industry and not the meat industry?
More discussion on The Optimist's Barn:
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!
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!
January 19, 2025 at 4:41 PM
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!
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!
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!
Proof that you don't have to be vegan to help animals. I think many feel this way!
January 14, 2025 at 3:45 AM
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!
Proof that you don't have to be vegan to help animals. I think many feel this way!