CORVALLIS, Ore. — Criminal background checks have delayed hemp planting approvals in Oregon because state farm regulators haven’t yet been able to fully access federal records.

To obtain hemp-growing licenses, farmers must now undergo criminal history checks as part of the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s new USDA-approved plan to regulate the crop.

However, the agency is still waiting for permission from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to tap into nationwide criminal records with the help of state police officials.

Oregon farm regulators had expected the FBI to approve the request after 4-5 months, before this year’s growing season began, said Lauren Henderson, ODA’s deputy director.

Instead, the process is still ongoing after about 9-10 months, which is now impeding farmers from getting their licenses and timely planting hemp, he said.

“That’s a big problem. We’re in a place where those who are trying to do the right thing are having a hard time doing the right thing,” Henderson said May 5 at the Oregon Board of Agriculture meeting in Corvallis, Ore.

State police officials have access to the federal criminal database, which can retrieve nationwide records based on personal information as well as fingerprints, but they must obtain the FBI’s permission to share it with the ODA, he said.

The delay has convinced the ODA not to wait for the FBI’s “gold standard” reports and to instead conduct state-level criminal background checks, he said. For federal data, the agency will rely on the USDA, which can access records but cannot run searches based on fingerprints.

“Given the urgency for growers to plant, the ODA can no longer wait for full FBI approval,” Henderson said.

Criminal background checks were not required for state hemp licenses before 2022 because the ODA was operating under an earlier federal program in which hemp was grown for research purposes.

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp at the national level but required that state governments get their regulatory plans approved by the USDA. Oregon’s plan, which includes the felony background checks, was cleared earlier this year.

It took repeated attempts for state lawmakers to grant ODA the full authority to carry out the USDA-approved hemp plan, which prevented the agency from seeking the FBI’s help earlier, Henderson said.

However, the problem likely isn’t limited to Oregon, he said. “We understand this is not a unique delay.”

There are currently about 300 farmers waiting for hemp licenses, which may not be enough to justify the full 12 hemp program positions authorized by the Legislature, said Mike Odenthal, the program’s manager.

Under a new state law, Douglas, Jackson and Josephine counties have opted to impose a two-year moratorium on new hemp licenses, which means 27 licenses will automatically be denied this year.

The moratorium is intended to improve enforcement so that hemp isn’t used as camouflage for illicit marijuana, a related cannabis crop with psychoactive properties.

Some hemp farmers form new limited liability companies each year to grow the crop, but they can’t in those three counties because new licenses won’t be available, Odenthal said.

The ODA plans to roll out heightened hemp inspections across the state this year to check for presumptive marijuana, expanding on an operation that focused on Southern Oregon last year, he said.

Most of the farmers whose crops tested positive for presumptive marijuana haven’t tried renewing their hemp licenses this year, Odenthal said. “Should they reapply, they will be denied.”