CADIZ-- Kentucky now has a new hemp processing plant.

Friday, Veritcal, with help from Congressman James Comer, cut the ribbon on its plant in Cadiz.

Before making the opening official, Rep. Comer remarked, "What a great day for the city of Cadiz, the county of Trigg, the state of Kentucky, and for family farmers in west Kentucky." The Agriculture committee member continued, "This is an industry that is growing like none other in the state of Kentucky."

Los Angeles based Vertical says they expect to turn 300,000 pounds of hemp into $15 million of CBD oil within the year.

Drew Milburn, the Chief Operating Officer for Vertical, sais when picking a location, they sought out western Kentucky. He explained, "We consider Kentucky the epicenter anyway. At one time in Kentucky's history there was fifty plus thousand acres and there's no reason it won't be that way again soon."

The plant they pick was sitting empty, but in its heyday, about 100 people had worked here. Milburn says they plan to return to that. "Putting people back to work. Not only getting the farmers a crop that's viable that they can depend on year after year, but all the folks that come along with it that need- that we can use to help process this product to the finished good."

Not only that, Vertical President Smoke Wallin says they say they plan to use only hemp from western Kentucky farmers. "What we are excited to do is have full visibility of the supply chain and be able to show traceability. Here is our hemp based CBD on the shelf, it's from Kentucky, here's the batch it was from, and be able to trace it back to the farm it was grown on," said Wallin.

While Vertical is willing to take a risk on a hemp manufacturing plant, many smaller farmers and entrepreneurs aren't able to do that. 

"For a lot of farmers they rely on that insurance because one bad crop year can literally cost them the farm. Farmers are already at such a high risk because of the market that's gone away with tobacco and everything else, that it's a risk and it's a risk that a lot of them can't take," explained Donald Bramer. Bramer works in government relations with his company, Bramer Group. 

Hemp is still a schedule one drug and because of that, it can't be insured. The Senate's proposed Farm Bill would change that. "We need to deregulate hemp so that it comes over and it falls under the department of agriculture. That way you can have crop insurance, you can have the subsidies that go with any other traditional crop, and take it where it's perceived as something criminal," Bramer said.

The hemp portion of the Farm Bill has received bipartisan support, however, as it stands it ithe House version of the bill includes strict work requirements. Democrats have said they won't vote for it with those restrictions. 

Comer says his main goal on the bill is getting it passed. "It needs to be passed. We have a lot of uncertainty in agriculture right now, with commodity prices, with the potential trade war. So, it's imparative to our family farmers and our Ag lenders that we have an Ag Bill, predominently because of the crop insurance aspect of it." Comer added, "I'm going to do everything I can in my ability when we go back in a couple of weeks to try to get the Farm Bill passed. Obviously, I want the work requirements, but at the end of the day, if the Senate can't get to 60 on the work requirements, then we're going to have to move on. 

Congress is on break until after the midterms, but lawmakers have said working on that will be a priority when they get back.