Tyson Foods Tied to Price-Fixing Lawsuit

Dan Industry News Release, Poultry

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Tyson Foods said this week it recently received a subpoena from federal investigators, likely tied to an investigation in which Tyson and other companies are alleged to have conspired to fix poultry prices. An AP report says the Arkansas-based meat producer said the investigation is in its early stages and that they are cooperating with investigators. Last September, a class-action lawsuit accused Tyson, Pilgrim’s Pride and other poultry producers conspired to fix and maintain poultry prices since 2008. The suit says their primary method of fixing prices at certain levels was “limiting their production.” The suit was filed by Mapleville Farms of New York, stating that methods of limiting production included the “unprecedented” destruction of breeder hens in 2008. The suit also says a second wave of coordinated productions cuts took place in 2011 and 2012. In addition, the suit said the companies exchanged competitively sensitive, nonpublic information about prices, sales volume, and demand. Several companies named in the lawsuit filed a motion last month to dismiss the suit, saying that chicken production grew during the time period named in the lawsuit.

From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.