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“We have had a seemingly endless string of struggles with banking and insurance”

Maine hemp growers were not surprised that Sheepscot General Farm in Whitefield had its insurance policies dropped and the status of its bank accounts thrown into doubt in one fell swoop last week.

After all, growers across Maine have experienced financing troubles of the same sort — including difficulty finding banks and payment processors willing to do business with them.

Nancy McBrady, director of Maine’s Bureau of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, said she had heard of three other instances in which hemp growers struggled with financing before she learned of Sheepscot’s struggle.

The plight of Sheepscot — which garnered publicity earlier this year when it opened a pick-your-own hemp field — spurred Gov. Janet Mills and Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal to write a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, urging the federal agency to finalize regulations that would make it clear how states could regulate hemp operations and how banks and insurance companies could do business with them.

Read more at bangordailynews.com

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