Wayne-Sanderson Farms settles in antitrust suit

Wayne-Sanderson Farms reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit in which major United States poultry integrators were accused of conspiring to rig bids and drive up the price of chicken.

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BCFC | Bigstockphoto.com
BCFC | Bigstockphoto.com

Wayne-Sanderson Farms reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit in which major United States poultry integrators were accused of conspiring to rig bids and drive up the price of chicken.

Frank Singleton, a spokesman for the company, said in an email to WATT Global Media that the company agreed to settle in which it would pay $17.75 million.

“The company maintains a position of no wrongdoing, but to avoid protracted litigation, this was the most efficient way of dealing with the case,” he stated

Wayne-Sanderson Farms formed in July 2022 with the merger between Sanderson Farms, the third largest U.S. poultry company at the time, and Wayne Farms, the country’s seventh largest poultry company.

In that transaction, Cargill and Continental Grain, through a joint venture, combined Sanderson Farms with Wayne Farms, a subsidiary of Continental Grain, and in the process formed a new privately held poultry business. Sanderson Farms was previously a publicly traded company.

The series of antitrust litigation pre-dates the merger between the two companies, and reaching this settlement will better enable Wayne-Sanderson to focus on its operations without the distraction of the lawsuit. 

“The company is excited to be moving forward and continuing to advance grower relations,” Singleton said. 

Other companies to have earlier reached settlements for such lawsuits include Fieldale Farms, Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s Pride and Mar-Jac Poultry. Like Wayne-Sanderson Farms, none of those companies admitted to any wrongdoing but instead decided to settle to get the litigation behind them.

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