Crying Fowl: What The Agri Stats Settlement Means For Competitor Benchmarking Programs

On May 7, 2026, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), along with several states, reached a settlement (Proposed Settlement) with Agri Stats, Inc., to resolve allegations that Agri Stats’ meat industry reports amounted to an impermissible exchange of information among competitors aimed at facilitating price fixing. Agri Stats is a data-sharing and consulting company engaged in the collection of prices, output, and costs from growers and processors in the broiler chickens, turkeys, and pork industries. The Proposed Settlement follows prior settlements between private plaintiffs and Agri Stats in related lawsuits alleging price-fixing of broiler chickens and turkeys.¹

The Proposed Settlement imposes a number of conduct restrictions on what data Agri Stats may collect and report, how that data must be aggregated and aged before it can be shared, who may purchase its reports and on what terms, and how compliance with all of these obligations will be monitored and