United States hemp farmers are worried about losses because of a lack of processing capacity, before they even ramp up production. Hemp processing manufacturers say the holdup is because U.S. banks are not making loans for processing equipment due to concerns FDIC will penalize them for supporting borrowers that have the word cannabis in their supply chain. Nebraska Hemp Association President Bill Achord says it’ll take time for processing to get up to speed.

Schedule one refers to any drug that is considered to have a high potential for abuse while Schedule five includes drugs with limited potential for abuse. Achord says there has to be more hemp grown before processors move forward.

He says they’ll know more when the USDA comes out with hemp rules later this year. Those were expected to be rolled out in August. Achord also is convinced hemp will be a viable cash crop for farmers because of all the potential uses.

Currently the U.S. lacks roughly 90 percent of the processing capacity needed for hemp.