Wool has been Chris Payne’s entire working life. After leaving school he went into the Hawke’s Bay scours, moving to Gisborne in 1991 where he has been a wool rep ever since, initially with Williams and Kettle, and for the last six years under the PGG Wrightson brand.

His initiation to the role in the East Coast was much more basic than it would be today.

“I was told: ‘Here’s a car. Go to Gisborne.’ It was sink or swim. Fortunately the company had clients, so my job was to get to know them,” says Chris.

That has been a key part of how he has operated ever since.

“I always try to add value for the farmers I deal with. In some instances that will be advising on a ram purchase, or maybe on selecting hogget replacements. 

“I like to be there for shearing in as many sheds as I can. I don’t miss many with shearing calls, and usually head away from home early in the morning, covering a fair distance,” he says.

As well as the price of wool, land use change is influencing the region’s farmers.

“Farmers are doing well on the back of sheep meat prices, with China the dominant customer, though returns for wool are not encouraging. For the younger generation, farmers who have never had reasonable returns from their clip, you can see them moving away from a dual purpose sheep, or even to a wool shedding breed.

“Changing land use, to manuka a couple of years ago, and more recently forestry, has also made inroads into East Coast sheep and beef country,” he says.

Chris reckons industry change needs to happen in the next five years.

“Since the wool levy was removed, with the loss of funding for promotion and research and development, the industry has become fragmented. It needs to come together again, and it needs a strong advocate. The government’s new working group should be a step in the right direction. There are some good examples from other sectors in agriculture, that have less history than wool. We need to learn from what they have done,” he says. 

In his own time, Chris can often be found at one end of a fishing rod, whether game finishing, or at one of his favourite spots on Lake Waikeremoana.

“It is pristine, isolated and best of all, one of the few places you don’t have phone coverage, so is the ideal place to get truly away and have a break,” he says.

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