A $1.5 billion settlement was reached in a class-action lawsuit covering tens of thousands of farmers, grain-handling facilities and ethanol plants that sued Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta over its introduction of a genetically engineered corn seed.

Cargill has completed its new seed innovation center in Ft. Collins, Colo., which will be the center of the company's specialty canola hybrid development.

Cargill Inc., the top exporter of U.S. grain and oilseeds, said it will reject crops containing a new genetically modified Syngenta AG corn trait that are delivered to its grain elevators for export contracts. Corn seeds containing Syngenta's Agrisure Duracade trait are available for planting in the U.S. for the first time this year after U.S. authorities cleared the trait in 2013.