FOOD & AGRICULTURE QUARTERLY | SEPTEMBER 2026
relating to prices, production levels, costs, and profitability. The company then standardized that information and redistributed it to participating processors through reports, benchmarking tools, and in-person meetings.
Agri Stats settlement signals major shift for information sharing in meat processing markets
JAY LEVINE
Special thanks to summer associate Regina Loayza for her work on this article.
In a closely watched antitrust case with significant implications for the poultry, pork, and turkey industries, Agri Stats, Inc. has agreed to a proposed settlement with the U. S. Department of Justice and several states that would fundamentally reshape how the company collects, analyzes, and distributes industry data. The matter, United States v. Agri Stats, Inc., is pending before the U. S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.
Background of the case
Agri Stats is a data-sharing and consulting company that provided services in the pork, turkey, and chicken sectors. According to the DOJ, Agri Stats collected detailed information directly from processors’ accounting systems, including data
In September 2023, the DOJ filed a Sherman Act Section 1 lawsuit against Agri Stats, alleging that the company facilitated the exchange of competitively sensitive information among broiler chicken, pork, and turkey processors. The states of Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah later joined the action. The complaint alleged that Agri Stats and its processor participants agreed to exchange detailed non-public information regarding prices, output, costs, and other key business metrics and that the exchange resulted in reduced competition, stabilized prices, and contributed to reduced production across multiple protein markets.
Key terms of the settlement
On May 15, 2026, the DOJ filed a Corrected Stipulation and Order notifying the court of the proposed settlement. Under the agreement, Agri Stats must begin complying with substantial portions of the proposed Final Judgment even before final court approval. Certain reporting, data handling, and compliance provisions must be implemented within 90 days of the stipulation.
The proposed Final Judgment imposes extensive restrictions on the company’ s data-sharing practices. Most notably, Agri Stats must discontinue its traditional sales report books and is generally prohibited from collecting, maintaining, or reporting sales-price data, subject to limited exceptions. The decree also prohibits several reporting features that regulators viewed as facilitating competitor coordination, including participant lists, rankings of processors, and“ flags” that revealed how many companies contributed to particular metrics.
In addition, Agri Stats may no longer report individual processor-level information except in narrowly defined circumstances. Future reports will generally be limited to aggregated or statistical data that satisfy confidentiality thresholds designed to prevent participants from identifying competitors’ information. For many reports, data must reflect contributions from at least three processors, with no single processor accounting for more than 70 % of the
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