Today, Farm Action urged the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa to reject the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed egg price-fixing settlements, arguing that the consequences fall far short of the government’s own allegations.
The DOJ alleges executives at Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Egg Ranch, and Versova coordinated for nearly three years, using bids, trades, and communications to influence the Urner Barry benchmark and drive egg prices higher while blaming avian flu. This was not simply companies benefiting from supply chain shortages; the DOJ’s findings alleged intentional coordination between dominant egg firms.
Farm Action first raised concerns about egg prices in January 2023, when ballooning profits suggested prices were inflated beyond what supply disruptions could justify, and again alerted federal enforcers in February 2025. The DOJ opened its investigation three weeks later. The DOJ’s subsequent complaint provides evidence that helps explain the warning signs that Farm Action raised.
The evidence of alleged coordination is stark, including egg company executives telling each other to bid “strong bids, early and often,” instructing colleagues to “light up the northwest bids,” deleting bids when sellers tried to accept them, and, after another round of coordinated bidding, celebrating with “Great job in the northwest today!”
The proposed settlements would require the companies to make payments, donate eggs, establish antitrust compliance programs, and allow government monitoring. But the companies would admit no wrongdoing and avoid a trial. For Cal-Maine, the nation’s largest egg company, Farm Action estimates the company’s combined economic obligation under the settlement at approximately $2.8 million, about 0.23% of the $1.22 billion in profit it reported in fiscal year 2025 alone.
Farm Action argues that such a small consequence is insufficient to deter serious anticompetitive conduct and urges the DOJ to re-examine whether the alleged conduct warrants criminal enforcement against the executives involved.
“The DOJ now asks the Court to approve a remedy that does not adequately respond to the seriousness of its own allegations,” Farm Action wrote in its comment to the Court. “If the DOJ’s allegations are proven, these companies did not merely benefit from a crisis—they exploited it.”
Eggs are a basic grocery staple in a highly consolidated food industry. If companies can allegedly manipulate prices and face consequences that amount to a cost of doing business, it risks setting a precedent that serious anticompetitive conduct is worth the risk.
In its public comment, Farm Action urges the Court to reject the proposed settlements in their current form and calls on the DOJ to seek stronger consequences that provide meaningful accountability and deter similar conduct in the future. Notably, 1,500 people have submitted comments through Farm Action’s public call to action urging the Court to reject the proposed settlements and telling the DOJ to seek stronger consequences.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, [email protected], 202-450-0094
Farm Action Urges Court to Reject Proposed Egg Price-Fixing Settlements
Today, Farm Action urged the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa to reject the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proposed egg price-fixing settlements, arguing that the consequences fall far short of the government’s own allegations.
The DOJ alleges executives at Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Egg Ranch, and Versova coordinated for nearly three years, using bids, trades, and communications to influence the Urner Barry benchmark and drive egg prices higher while blaming avian flu. This was not simply companies benefiting from supply chain shortages; the DOJ’s findings alleged intentional coordination between dominant egg firms.
Farm Action first raised concerns about egg prices in January 2023, when ballooning profits suggested prices were inflated beyond what supply disruptions could justify, and again alerted federal enforcers in February 2025. The DOJ opened its investigation three weeks later. The DOJ’s subsequent complaint provides evidence that helps explain the warning signs that Farm Action raised.
The evidence of alleged coordination is stark, including egg company executives telling each other to bid “strong bids, early and often,” instructing colleagues to “light up the northwest bids,” deleting bids when sellers tried to accept them, and, after another round of coordinated bidding, celebrating with “Great job in the northwest today!”
The proposed settlements would require the companies to make payments, donate eggs, establish antitrust compliance programs, and allow government monitoring. But the companies would admit no wrongdoing and avoid a trial. For Cal-Maine, the nation’s largest egg company, Farm Action estimates the company’s combined economic obligation under the settlement at approximately $2.8 million, about 0.23% of the $1.22 billion in profit it reported in fiscal year 2025 alone.
Farm Action argues that such a small consequence is insufficient to deter serious anticompetitive conduct and urges the DOJ to re-examine whether the alleged conduct warrants criminal enforcement against the executives involved.
“The DOJ now asks the Court to approve a remedy that does not adequately respond to the seriousness of its own allegations,” Farm Action wrote in its comment to the Court. “If the DOJ’s allegations are proven, these companies did not merely benefit from a crisis—they exploited it.”
Eggs are a basic grocery staple in a highly consolidated food industry. If companies can allegedly manipulate prices and face consequences that amount to a cost of doing business, it risks setting a precedent that serious anticompetitive conduct is worth the risk.
In its public comment, Farm Action urges the Court to reject the proposed settlements in their current form and calls on the DOJ to seek stronger consequences that provide meaningful accountability and deter similar conduct in the future. Notably, 1,500 people have submitted comments through Farm Action’s public call to action urging the Court to reject the proposed settlements and telling the DOJ to seek stronger consequences.
Media Contact: Emma Nicolas, [email protected], 202-450-0094
RECENT NEWS
Farm Action Urges Court to Reject Proposed Egg Price-Fixing Settlements
“If the DOJ’s allegations are proven, these companies did not merely benefit from a crisis—they exploited it,” Farm Action wrote in its comment to the Court.
Daily Caller | Egg Price Fixing Shouldn’t Be Just Another Cost Of Doing Business
“If the DOJ believes its own allegations, it should pursue consequences commensurate with them. Price fixing cannot become just another cost of doing business,” writes Farm Action President Angela Huffman.
“Let It Rip”: The Egg Price-Fixing Messages Every Grocery Shopper Should See
What really drove egg prices higher? A government investigation alleges a price-fixing scheme that calls for real accountability.