BINGHAMTON, NY – Local farmers interested in jumping into our area’s burgeoning hemp industry learned about some of the opportunities and challenging of growing and selling the crop yesterday.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County held an Industrial Hemp Producers Conference inside the Regional Farmers Market.

Attendees heard from a variety of experts, including perhaps the plant’s biggest champion in our area, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo.

Larry Smart is a Professor of Horticulture at Cornell University.

He’s been traveling the state informing growers and processors about current research being done at Cornell.

Smart encourages all farmers to have a signed contract with a buyer before planting hemp.