Palliser Ridge shears 6,000 ewes twice a year, in February and August, and 9,000 lambs once a year, in February.

This equates to roughly 40,000kgs of wool coming off our flock annually. 

Our aim is to sell our fibre in a traceable way directly to customers, manufacturers and businesses and follow the entire process to ensure we're proud of the end products created.              

The wool that is taken off of our lambs is around the 29 micron mark, which tells us that it's well suited to products such as clothing like jerseys, socks and scarves, as well as insulation and carpet.

Wool is a product with a large number of benefits, health and otherwise. It's a natural solution when insulating the house and carpeting the home, it's a breathable fibre and perfect for keeping you warm in the colder months.

It's also a New Zealand produced alternative to many imported synthetic products. Learn more about the benefits of wool here.

The Palliser Ridge Lambs Wool is perfect for outer garments such as blankets, cardigans and jerseys, scarves, hats and much more.

Partnerships with fellow New Zealand businesses such as New Zealand Natural Clothing and Inter-Weave have allowed for larger scale production of both fashion and home based wool products.

See here for our range. 

We are excited to share with you our very own Palliser Ridge Lambs Wool yarn, grown naturally down in the South Wairarapa of New Zealand.

Taken from our latest lamb shear, and sent to the Hawkes Bay Wool Scours, our Lambs Wool is then spun into yarn by our friends at Woolyarns in Wellington.

The yarn comes in a range of colours, and in the double knit (8 ply), it's perfect for handknitting, crocheting and dyeing. 

A Cosy Partnership for
Wool's Future

We're proud to introduce one of our brand partners, Lof; a local textile design studio that has just unveiled its debut product — the Wool Hoop Pendant Light — following four years of R&D. Founded by Sophie Alida Poelman and Alain Brideson, and co-funded by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund along with Agmardt, Lof is reshaping how New Zealand strong wool can be used in sustainable interior design.

As Lof’s wool supplier, we’re proud to partner with a brand committed to supporting a fair and sustainable future for New Zealand wool growers. Lof pays a fair rate for our wool and has built a fully local value chain, supporting both our land and our wool industry.

The Wool Hoop Pendant Light is more than just a design statement — it’s a celebration of wools natural beauty and functionality. This soft, sustainably-designed light brings the warmth, acoustic dampening, and air-purifying properties of wool into the home.

Available in a timeless natural wool colour and with five size variations, the Wool Hoop is crafted from our certified regenerative wool grown right here at Palliser Ridge.

Discover more at https://www.lof.nz/

Strong wool equals strong partnership for Palliser Ridge & AuT

South Wairarapa business Palliser Ridge has partnered with Auckland University of Technology (AUT) to deliver a paper centred on the use of strong wool in design.
 
The partnership has seen a donation of more than 50 kilograms of wool in various forms, and a guest lecture from Palliser Ridge Director and Farm Manager Kurt Portas.
 
Taken by 26 second year AUT Industrial Design students, the paper explores value chains for strong wool through two design projects, says paper leader Dr Jyoti Kalyanji.

“Using the fibre gives students insight into processing and management of environmental and sustainability considerations, alongside experimental practice to understand the properties of strong wool,” she says.

Traditionally used in carpets, rugs and upholstery, strong wool makes up 80 percent of New Zealand’s total wool clip. But at present, the cost of shearing and processing strong wool is higher than its market value.

“Efforts to revitalise this market by the government and industry bodies is focused on new product categories for strong wool – a problem suited to being solved by our young industrial designers.
“We are extremely grateful to Palliser Ridge for this opportunity,” Dr Kalyanji says.

Palliser Ridge Director and Farm Manager Kurt Portas recently visited AUT to deliver the wool and present to the class.
 "It was great to meet with the students in person and share the story of how we get this fibre growing on farm and then prepared for the marketplace off farm,” he said.
 
“I was really impressed by the energy and keenness of students to understand the provenance of the product they will be working with, and the science behind its structure.”
 
He says strong wool is now being used in less conventional products like shoes and even surfboards.
 “It’s not just woolly hats and knitted jerseys. There is scope to do so much more, and I really look forward to seeing the innovative ideas and solutions developed by this group of aspiring designers.”

Palliser Ridge Director and Expansion Manager Lisa Portas says the company is proud to be part of a line-up of accomplished strong wool users supporting the paper.
 
“It is great to see Palliser Ridge supporting this course alongside a range of amazing wool advocates. We would hate to see the cost of materials, especially those sourced directly from the start of the supply chain, as a barrier to success in this paper,” she said.
 
“We also wanted to share our experience and expertise beyond the wool donation and Kurt’s guest lecture.
 
“I have assisted students via Zoom. It has been great to connect in with these creative minds and see their ideas taking shape”.
 
Lisa joined other industry partners of the paper at AUT on Thursday 20th October as the finished products were revealed.
The paper will conclude for students in November.