NEW WINDSOR – A year after hemp was legalized for production, the financial infrastructure needed to help farmers has not caught up with the industry.
“Right now, no banks are really offering any financing,” said Michael Geraci, co-owner of Hemp Farms of New York in New Windsor. “They want to see funds coming in. Unfortunately, we can only see funds coming in after we harvest. So it has been very difficult.”
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), who helped legalize hemp in a 2018 farm bill, wants to make it easier for farmers like Geraci get the financing they need to operate and expand in the future.
Hemp is not just the CBD oil produced for medicinal purposes, the senator said.
“One of the uses of hemp is in construction material because it is strong. It is not just rope and it is not just CBD oil,” Schumer said while in New Windsor on Friday. “Ford Motor Company wants to use hemp in their doors because it is strong and if you have a crash, it stops the danger from getting too great. So the uses are all over the place,” he said. “That’s the first good thing. The second good thing is that the New York soil and growing season, and particularly the black dirt here in Orange County, are perfect for hemp. Upstate New York could be the lead group place in the country.”
Schumer noted that any farmer or new company needs bank loans, lending, and financing to get off the ground. And the banks, the lenders are very cautious people. He said banks want to lend, but they want to make sure it’s OK.
“(They) have not put out regulations that simply say it’s OK to do this, this, this and this. I am urging the banking regulators to get going and put out regulations right away,” Schumer said.
Geraci has 20 employees, and he grew 64,000 pounds of hemp this year. And easier access to lending and capital will help him in the future if the financial industry breaks down its barriers to help him grow.
“It’s going to help us tremendously,” he said, if the barriers are removed.
Schumer said hemp will help farmers diversify and possibly prosper, so they are not dependent on products such as dairy.
“This is legal,” said Schumer. This is a good product.”
