The eastern priest, we hear, is a wool producer (5)
I believe the answer is:
llama
'a wool producer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the eastern priest we hear' is the wordplay.
'the eastern priest' becomes 'lama' (I've seen this in another clue).
'we hear' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'lama' is a homophone of 'LLAMA'.
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for llama that I've seen before include "One bearing burden" , "woolly customer" , "20vian beast" , "South American carrier" , "This could carry your stuff" .)