>improved fleece on merino sheep grazed under panels
Makes sense. I'm not sure the exact care instructions, but I'm pretty sure "store this garment outside unshielded in the baking sun and pouring rain for many months" isn't the official recommendation for wool.
If available, sheep (and other animals) will seek cover during heavy rains and periods of high heat stress. This protects both the sheep and the wool, and both factors improve quality.
I wouldn't be surprised if the diet improves as well, due to healthier grass, higher plant biodiversity, and higher abundance of (tasty and nutritious) insects.
Paradoxically, primary productivity will often increase with added shade, because photosynthesis shuts down at even mildly elevated leaf temperatures (~85 °F). Those vast impressive corn fields will often overheat and shut down around 10 AM, and don't start photosynthesizing again until 4 PM.
In ye olden days farmers would plant a widely-spaced grid of "farmer's trees."[0] These are a category of trees (eg black locust) which 1) provided shade and windbreak, 2) coexist with crops right up to their trunk, 3) have deep tap roots bringing up minerals and water, 4) drops fertilizing mulch, and 5) produces nutritious animal fodder (pods) which self-dry and store on the tree itself. Clever farmers!
For mechanized farms you can choose a planting pattern and varieties that permit machinery to drive right past the tree without losing much area on "gores." Typical density was about 20-30 trees per hectare, so it also stores a bit of carbon.
Personally I prefer trees, but ultimately we need both types of systems.
Wool has a protective layer of grease, the same thing that makes your hair feels "greasy" if you don't wash your hair for a month. This grease is washed away during wool processing and sold as lanolin.
And also, the degradation that you see on sun-damaged clothing is mostly on the dye, not the underlying fabric itself.
It's also true that lanolin + shade and rain cover is better than lanolin alone. No protection is 100%.
> degradation that you see on sun-damaged clothing is mostly on the dye
"Mostly." We agree damage is done to the fiber. ;)
By design, modern dyes often act to protect fibers, soaking up energetic photons before they can damage the fibers themselves. In their absence, undyed fibers can be more susceptible to damage.
> the degradation that you see on sun-damaged clothing is mostly on the dye, not the underlying fabric itself.
UV light will absolutely wreck most things, including fabric. Fabric left outdoors unprotected for a summer in Southwest US will be brittle and tear apart when handled. Plastic that isn't UV-protected will crack in about two summers. Hoses left in the sun will develop multiple leaks in 3-5 years, pretty much no matter how robust the marketing claimed they are.
Makes sense. I'm not sure the exact care instructions, but I'm pretty sure "store this garment outside unshielded in the baking sun and pouring rain for many months" isn't the official recommendation for wool.
If available, sheep (and other animals) will seek cover during heavy rains and periods of high heat stress. This protects both the sheep and the wool, and both factors improve quality.
I wouldn't be surprised if the diet improves as well, due to healthier grass, higher plant biodiversity, and higher abundance of (tasty and nutritious) insects.
Paradoxically, primary productivity will often increase with added shade, because photosynthesis shuts down at even mildly elevated leaf temperatures (~85 °F). Those vast impressive corn fields will often overheat and shut down around 10 AM, and don't start photosynthesizing again until 4 PM.
In ye olden days farmers would plant a widely-spaced grid of "farmer's trees."[0] These are a category of trees (eg black locust) which 1) provided shade and windbreak, 2) coexist with crops right up to their trunk, 3) have deep tap roots bringing up minerals and water, 4) drops fertilizing mulch, and 5) produces nutritious animal fodder (pods) which self-dry and store on the tree itself. Clever farmers!
For mechanized farms you can choose a planting pattern and varieties that permit machinery to drive right past the tree without losing much area on "gores." Typical density was about 20-30 trees per hectare, so it also stores a bit of carbon.
Personally I prefer trees, but ultimately we need both types of systems.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=25&v=uvQpIHBSPBE