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Judge dismisses beef producers’ antitrust suit

A federal judge in Minnesota has dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against major meatpackers, ruling the cattle ranchers’ claims lacked legal standing. 

In his decision, Judge John Tunheim said there are too many stages in the beef supply chain and too much time between the sale of cattle and the purchase by meatpackers to adequately establish standing for the Sherman Act and the Packers and Stockyards claims.  

The judge also dismissed the remaining state law claims. The judge also prevented the group from amending their suit unless a written letter is filed with the Court to outline the basis to correct the standing issues.

In October 2022 a group of cow-calf producers alleged meatpackers JBS, Tyson Foods, National Beef Packing, and Swift coordinated to reduce the volume of beef to manipulate the market, ultimately harming consumers, retailers, and producers. 

Earlier this year JBS USA agreed to pay $25 million to a group of grocery store consumers in order to settle a price-fixing claim and in 2021 the company settled claims from beef wholesalers for $52.5 million.