The Wool Wire | April 30, 2026

Sextuplets in Vermont, Allbirds' AI gambit, funding for fake fiber engineering, fair prices for regenerative wool, and wool prices on the rise in the UK

Clara Parkes

30 Apr 2026 — 4 min read

Happy grazers against the bluest sky. // Photo by Hasan Almasi / Unsplash

News snippets from the wool world

Hello, my friends!

Lambing season is always a stressful time for farmers. But earlier this month, a farming couple in Vermont got an extra surprise. A Finn ewe they were told was carrying twins actually gave birth to sextuplets—something that's extremely rare.

Clover & Bee Farm has since set up a page where you can read all about the sextuplets and even sponsor a lamb if you're so inclined. The story also made the Huffington Post and got a spot on the nightly news up in Maine.

I'm happy to report that the proud mother Teemu and her lambs are all healthy and well.

That Allbirds News

Two weeks ago Allbirds announced a pivot that was so personally insulting that I didn't have the stomach to give it any space here. After selling off their shoe business for a mere $35 million, two weeks later they announced plans to become NewBird AI, a "fully integrated GPU-as-a-service and AI-native cloud solutions provider."

That's right, from shoes to AI. It reads like a joke, but apparently they were serious.

The news immediately made their stock jump from $2.49 to $16.99 per share before slumping back to the high $6 range. All that from a press release.

I maintain that the downfall of Allbirds was primarily a management problem far more than it was a wool problem—and that the sheep, while initially bolstered by the publicity surrounding the company, were done a profound disservice in the end.

If anything, this latest move makes me even more convinced that wool's role is not as a cog within but a lifeline out of the billionaire-fueled, end-stage capitalism now choking the planet.

I love your cardigan. Is it compost?

Speaking of billionaires, the Bezos Earth Fund (yes, that Bezos) has announced $34 million in grants to fund scientific research in alternatives to conventional rayon, silk, and cotton. That's right, they want to hack textiles fibers.

"The science happening right now is incredible. These teams are growing fiber from bacteria, engineering cotton that comes out of the ground in color and creating silk like fibers from compost. That’s not just good for the planet. That’s the future of fashion," stated Lauren Sánchez Bezos, Vice Chair of the Bezos Earth Fund.

I feel the need to defend the work of Sally Fox, who has spent decades pioneering naturally colored cotton fibers for the textiles market. It's not new. But the $11 million grant is going to Clemson University and the University of Georgia for gene editing and synthetic biology.

While I'm happy to see any funding for scientific research right now, I'm rather dreading the moment when the tech bros decide to try growing wool in a petri dish.

Stronger and stronger

Strongwool prices are on the rise in New Zealand—and not for the reason most people might think. A US-based keratin biotech firm called Keraplast has locked in a five-year supply contract for strongwool from farms that adhere to regenerative agriculture standards.

The keratin will be extracted and used for haircare, skincare, and medical products. Best of all, the farms will get above-market rates for their wool. Yes, the wool will cease to be wool. But if farmers can't make money, there's no wool market at all, and what good is that?

Higher and Higher

And in the UK, wool prices are set to see a 70% increase over last year. Part of the reason, however, is that fewer sheep are being raised for wool—resulting in tighter supply at a time when demand is beginning to see a turnaround.

One such project helping increase demand is The Great British Wool Revival, which was recently the subject of a profile in Farmers Guardian.

The idea is to connect the fashion industry with farmers who produce wool sustainably, producing an interactive map that highlights all aspects of the wool supply chain including farmers, graders and spinning facilities.

Sounds good to me!