Wool meets hemp on high country station

Paul Ensor farms sheep and cattle at Glenaan Station in the Rakaia Gorge and co-owns a clothing brand that blends merino wool with hemp fibre.

Sheep at Glenaan Station feast on top tucker as shearing draws near to keep their fine merino wool in lustrous condition.

The station in the Upper Rakaia Gorge extends from the river flats to the tops of snow-covered hill country.

Paul and Prue Ensor farm sheep and cattle on the property that Paul took over from his parents in 2004.

The Ensors run about 6000 fine wool-producing merino sheep.

Good feed management is crucial for the sheep and their wool. In winter they're put onto a new break of grass every day and get a top-up of silage.

"If they didn't get very well fed for even a week the micron would narrow up and the wool would then get a break in it and it wouldn't be as strong".

The sheep are shorn in August and September and produce up to five kilos of 15 to 16-micron wool.

"You might get three tops out of one kilo so you know they're clothing quite a few people per year per sheep," he says.

Paul is also involved in a start-up called Hemprino, a New Zealand-made clothing brand that blends merino wool with hemp fibre from China.

The plan is to source it locally eventually.

He says the material has a soft, luxurious feel and is quite unique in its appearance.

"The hemp doesn't take up the dye like the merino does, so it's got what they call a mélange look".

The yarns are made in Wellington and the clothing is knitted in Auckland. Paul says they haven't started using the merino wool from Glenann Station yet.

"It's certainly our intent but we've probably used three different types of wool to date, so we've always been about getting the product right and then we'll start using our own farm story as part of the product."

The Hemprino clothing range is sold locally in Methven and online via the Hemprino website, but Paul has big plans for the business.

"As we're three families involved, if we can grow a business that can enable our children to get involved in different aspects of it, that would be a really great success for us I think".