Capturing More Value With Natural Fibers

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

How much of the money from your clothing goes back to the farmer? Like food, a pretty small percentage. Paul Ensor, farmer and co-founder of Hemprino says when looking for ways to capture more value from the merino wool harvested from his sheep, blending it with hemp and developing his own proprietary clothing line.

Ensor... "We were looking around and there's a lot of wool blended with synthetic fibers to give it various attributes, whether to make the yarn stronger or more durable or give it some stretch and things like that. So we thought, well, why can't we do that with another natural fiber? So hemp was actually the first one we looked at and we thought, well, let's have a go because we did some market research, couldn't find it, it hadn't been done anywhere with any success. So we thought, let's dive into this because we really like the attributes of hemp and what it's about."

Ensor says not only is the fiber top quality but it also has attractive environmental benefits.

Ensor... "And the great thing about hemp is it actually, um, wears in, doesn't wear out, so it's very soft, durable, helps the garments keep their shape because it doesn't stretch, and it's got some, a really good environmental story, um, those that know anything about hemp know that it grows with very little inputs, low fertilizer, next to no chemical applications, and it's a very efficient use of water as well, so."

Learn more at hemprino.co.nz.