MINNEAPOLIS, MN – A federal judge in Minnesota has dismissed an antitrust lawsuit against major meatpackers, ruling the cattle ranchers’ claims lacked legal standing.
Meatpacking giants Cargill Inc., JBS SA, Tyson Foods Inc., National Beef Packing Co., and Swift Beef Co. escaped a list of allegations by ranchers who indirectly sell them cattle through various marketing options.
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.
He applied a 1983 antitrust standing test established by the US Supreme Court in Associated General Contractors of California v. California State Council of Carpenters. The test requires in part that plaintiffs demonstrate a causal connection between the alleged violation and the harm they suffered, whether Congress intended the antitrust laws to address that type of harm, that the defendants had “improper motive,” and how directly the injury and market restraint are connected.
He found similar issues warranted dismissal of the charges under various state laws.
Tunheim denied the ranchers leave to amend the complaint, but said they can file a letter with the court outlining their plans to fix the standing issues, “which the Court will then consider and determine whether leave to amend is warranted.”
The largest meatpackers have faced years of litigation from suppliers, retailers, and consumers over their alleged market manipulation. The lawsuit is part of a wave of cartel litigation involving livestock, agriculture, and protein. JBS, a Brazilian meatpacker, reached a $52.5 million class action settlement with beef wholesalers in September 2022.
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.
