On October 25th, a federal jury determined unanimously that Sanderson Farms did not participate in inter-industry collusion after a six-week trial.
Accusations related to the period 2008 through 2012, preceding the 2022 acquisition of Sanderson Farms by a consortium to form Wayne-Sanderson Farms.
Jeremy Kilburn, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer for Wayne-Sanderson Farms, stated, “The evidence presented over the last six weeks is clear, Sanderson Farms and the broiler industry did not conspire to produce less chicken.”
It is a matter of record that during the period during which the conspiracy was alleged to have occurred, Sanderson expanded by building a number of complexes and increased capacity of existing facilities.
Despite the fact that many competitors of Sanderson Farms settled with plaintiffs’ attorneys without admitting wrongdoing, for a total of $285 million, Sanderson dug in and prevailed.
The verdict serves as a vindication of the broiler industry with obvious implications that there was no collusion to either fix prices or to constrain production to the detriment of retailers and consumers. The U. S. broiler industry operates according to a free-market system with intense competition.