The National Corn Growers Association applauded House passage of the Water Resources and Development Act by the U.S. House this week. NCGA First Vice President Wesley Spurlock says the Act will play a “vital role in moving corn to export markets.” NCGA notes that a main focus of the WRDA 2016 bill is clearing the backlog of projects managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It also provides more than $10 billion in funding to the Army Corps to develop, maintain and support the nation’s port and waterways infrastructures. The next step for WRDA is a conference of the House and Senate bills, with a potential final bill ready to be signed by the President by the end of the year.

A report this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City shows the farm economy slumping into the fourth quarter of the year. The bank says the U.S. farm economy weakened further in the third quarter despite an upward revision to farm income projections by the Department of Agriculture. Following a brief rebound in crop prices in the second quarter, the bank says profit margins for crop producers deteriorated in August and September. Profit margins also remained poor in the cattle and dairy sectors. Agricultural credit conditions have weakened further as loan repayment problems have picked up steadily, and bankers in the Midwest have expressed increasing concerns about the softening farm economy spilling over to Main Street business activity in rural areas.

A federal judge in Kansas has allowed a lawsuit filed by farmers against Syngenta to move forward as a class action lawsuit. Farmers from the U.S. sued Syngenta in 2014 after grain shipments to China were rejected because of an unapproved genetically engineered trait was found. The trait, Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera, was unapproved for import by China. Farmers who did not plant Viptera corn claimed they suffered losses when the rejections disrupted trade and dragged down corn prices. It is estimated by the plaintiffs that U.S. corn producers lost between $5-7 billion in current and future revenue because China stopped importing U.S. corn at the time. An attorney appointed to represent the farmers says the ruling “will make it easier and less expensive for farmers to pursue their claims against Syngenta.” Syngenta says it is not responsible for the losses and may appeal the District Court’s decision.

Republican U.S. Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas this week introduced a bill in the U.S. House intended to help farmers save for disasters and difficult times. Crawford says the Farm Risk Abatement and Mitigation Election Act would give farmers the option of taking disaster preparedness into their hands. The FRAME Act would establish tax-deferred farm savings accounts that farmers could withdraw from during difficult times without waiting for disaster declarations and government assistance. He says the accounts would work much like an IRA or Health Savings Account and would give farmers the option of investing. To encourage initial investment, farmers would be eligible to write-off FRAME Account contributions on their tax bill. Contributions would be tax deductible up to $50,000 per year, and farmers would retain 10 percent of their contributions as a tax credit during the first few years after opening the account. The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee for consideration.

The Department of Agriculture may have to wait until later this year to receive funding for the congressionally mandated study on electronic GMO labeling. Politico reports USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said this week the funding would not be in the continuing resolution that was passed by the Senate Wednesday afternoon. The study was mandated as part of the GMO labeling bill passed by Congress this summer. Congress also set a deadline of two years for the study and the GMO labeling rules that USDA must craft. Vilsack said “it’s important for us to figure out a way to get this started” to meet the timeline Congress intended for GMO labeling. The mandatory labeling bill allows for scannable codes on food packaging that directs consumers to label information online through a smartphone.

The U.S. Grains Council and the Renewable Fuels Association expressed disappointment Wednesday with China’s preliminary determination regarding U.S. dried distiller’s grains. The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China claims DDGs are being unfairly subsidized by U.S. government entities and have caused injury to China’s DDGs industry. The groups say the announcement was not a surprise, but challenge that “U.S. DDGs have not caused any injury to China.” The groups say DDGs play an important role in protecting Chinese feed producers and households against unpredictable swings in global commodity prices. The groups say “we will continue cooperating fully with these investigations” and hope China “will find in its final determination that continued access for U.S. DDGs is in China’s interest.”

Trade leaders from Canada and China have signed a trade agreement that supports canola exports to China. Canola is Canada’s second-largest export and top agricultural export to China, according to World Grain News. Canada’s Prime Minister and China’s Premier agreed on a memo that outlines “stable and predictable trade” for exports of Canola to China. The agreement allows uninterrupted canola trade between Canada and China through 2020. The agreement stems from blackleg disease that affects canola in Canada and China’s concern of the disease entering the nation through exports. The agreement ensures the two countries will work together to prevent blackleg disease from entering China. The two nations also signed a protocol to expand market access for frozen bone-in beef from Canada and have also advanced several key initiatives to support trade in pork, bovine genetics and some processed foods.