Minnesota Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Meatpackers

A U.S. District Court in Minnesota has dismissed an anti-trust lawsuit against meatpackers like Tyson Foods, JBS, the National Beef Packing Company, and Cargill. R-CALF led several plaintiffs in filing the lawsuit. Chief Judge John Tunheim left open the opportunity for plaintiffs to amend their complaint.

Tyson Foods said, “We’re pleased with the court’s decision.”

In the ruling, the judge says the complaint didn’t give much evidence of how meatpackers conspired to manipulate prices for fed cattle; instead, “it resorted to group pleading, arguing that the market did this or that.”

In his written opinion, Tunheim said, “The most specific allegations related to 2015 when JBS dropped its annual slaughter volume by 17%, National Beef by 6%, and Tyson by 4%. Plaintiffs then say little about the defendants in the years that follow when slaughter volumes actually increased.

As for other allegations like a reduction in the number of cash cattle purchased, the judge says plaintiffs rely almost exclusively on industry-wide data and ask the court to infer that the individual defendants all contributed to the decrease simply because they make up a majority of the industry.

The Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, the United Stockgrowers of America, and the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America filed the lawsuit in April of 2019.

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