Industrial hemp growing and selling was legalized this year after U.S. Senator Charles Schumer’s provision in the Farm Bill, however, many banks and other financial institutions are still hesitant to provide services to hemp businesses due to confusion over legal status.
Schumer is calling on major federal financial agencies to rectify the situation by issuing new guidance to financial institutions on industrial hemp to ease concerns and assist in growing the industry upstate.
Schumer visited a hemp field at the Mills family farm on Ham road in Basom on Tuesday morning along with growers, producers, industry experts, and a history class from Oakfield/Alabama High School.
Schumer launched a new push to fix the issue for the growing industrial hemp industry in upstate New York. Financial institutions have continued to question whether or not they can extend their services and products to industrial hemp-oriented businesses, even though it is fully legal.
Schumer says that without access to traditional financial services, the industrial hemp industry Upstate and in Genesee County is being unfairly restricted, preventing further economic growth and the creation of good-paying jobs and choking off valuable income for farmers.
To address the issue, Schumer will request that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) expediently issue guidance to financial institutions confirming the legality of providing services to the industrial hemp industry, to better seed and grow it across Upstate New York.