Koch Foods files bid-rigging appeal

 

Koch Foods has filed an appeal against a class-action lawsuit saying its settlement with customers was for price-fixing, not bid-rigging.

Chief Judge Philip Brimmer found “by a preponderance of the evidence” that a bid-rigging conspiracy existed involving Pilgrim’s, Koch, Claxton Poultry, Tyson Foods, Mar-Jac and George’s Inc. 

In denying a motion for acquittal after a mistrial, Brimmer said a jury could reasonably find Koch’s William Kantola joined the conspiracy by 2014.

In a new filing in an appeals court, Koch Foods said restaurants — including Golden Corral, Church’s and Zaxby’s — opted to pursue their bid-rigging allegations as individual direct-action plaintiffs in a separate track of the litigation and were never part of the certified class that reached a $75 million settlement with Koch and House of Raeford Farms.

The class action, Koch said, focused solely on allegations that chicken producers conspired to reduce supply and inflate prices — not on bid rigging. 

The company argued the court properly excluded the restaurants’ claims from the settlement calculations and had no obligation to assign them value before granting final approval.

Economic analysis filed with the court found the restaurants paid 15 per cent more for chicken in 2015 than 2013 while market prices declined by 17.7 per cent.

Analyst Laurel Van Allen estimated damages of more than $118 million in 2015 alone — just one year of the alleged eight-year conspiracy.

The objectors argue that despite this evidence, the district court failed to consider the value of their bid-rigging claims when approving settlements with Koch and House of Raeford, focusing only on classwide supply reduction claims.

Koch is infamous for its multi-million-dollars funding of Republican Party activities.

Hatching chicken fertility declining

Broiler chicken fertility rates from eggs could decline to just 60 per cent by 2050 from the current average of 78.6 per cent according to the most recent data from the United States Department of Agriculture.

New research by Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Poultry Science published a scientific report saying that would significantly change the economics of chicken production and, ultimately, raise costs for consumers.

The trends have been a concern for the industry for years, however, the study is believed to be the first to take such a close examination of the data and to forecast possible outcomes. 

The broiler industry has seen “significant declines in essential production metrics, including hatchability, chick viability and production efficiency,” according to the analysis of data from the government’s National Agricultural Statistics Service from 2013 to 2022.

Among the points of concern, according to the research are declining fertility rates and high and rising consumer demand.]

To remain viable, the industry needs hatchability of 75 per cent, the report said.

As for demand, from 2013 to 2022 annual per capita chicken consumption increased from 82 to 101 pounds.

Chicken production increased from 18.85 to to 23.15 million tons.

                           

Roundup decision time coming

 

The future of Roundup is on the line as its owner, Bayer, ponders whether to end production.

Bayer mines elemental phosphorus in Soda Springs, Idaho, formulates glyphosate production in Muscatine, Iowa, and finishes the formulation and production in Luling, La.

“We have paid out over $10 billion in settlements, with no admission of fault or guilt. We stand behind the product. This is part of the litigation industry and the process that we have to make decisions around, said Jess Christiansen, head of crop science and sustainability communications for Bayer.

The company said a decision on Roundup will be made within months.

And now it is facing several class-action lawsuits in Canada.

Since Bayer’s predecessor, Monsanto, developed the glyphosate-containing Roundup and then genetically engineered corn and soybeans to survive its killing power, it has been one of the most-used weed killers in the world.

Now there are competitors who market glyphosate-containing herbicides, more crops have been engineered to survive fields sprayed with glyphosate, but more weeds are also evolving resistance.

Two PDCoV outbreaks

 

There have been two new outbreaks of porcine deltacoronavirus, both in nursery barns in Huron County.

There have now been four outbreaks this month, two of porcinedeltacoronavirus and two or porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Ontario has been hard hit this year while farmers in other prominent pork-producing provinces, such as Quebec and Manitoba, have kept the viruses out of their herds.

Terpstra and Murray lead pork board

Tara Terpstra, a pork producer from Huron County, has been acclaimed as chair of the board of Ontario Pork and TJ Murray of Oxford County was elected vice-chairman. 

It is Terpstra’s second term and Murray’s first.

Two new directors are Cassandra Van Engelen, elected as a board member at large, and Charlie Illick of Zone 3.

The other board members are Bruce Hudson, Karen Sanders, Tanya Terpstra, Philip Van Raay, and Jolanda Vandenbroek.

Two have retired Eric Schwindt and Arno Schober.

                           

 

 

Farmers say uncertainty the chief threat

 

Uncertainty is the top issue, a survey of 417 farmers doing more than $1 million worth of business has found.

Canada’s trade disputes with the United Strares and China have made market volatility the biggest risk to their business for 2025. 

At the same time, they recognize the need for improved education in finance, accounting and hedging strategies to help them achieve financial success.

In partnership with Stratus Ag Research, the Hebert Group commissioned the survey to assess the key risks facing farmers for the 2025 crop year and identify gaps in agriculture education. It also explored the role of government and policy. 

Thirty-three percent of farmers surveyed ranked volatile commodity markets as the top risk factor, followed by 31 per cent choosing environmental factors. 

When asked about the role of government, 38.8 per cent ranked the federal government’s international trade policies as the top threat to their business. However, they still look to the federal government for support when times are tough. 

Thirty-four percent of ranked income support programs and subsidies as the number one priority.

“Agriculture has a love-hate relationship with the federal government. I think what we’re seeing is that farms don’t trust the government to accurately represent and protect their interest on the world stage and in accessing international markets,” says Kristjan Hebert, president of the Hebert Group. “The lack of federal leadership for agriculture over the last decade is starting to show its colours. Our next government needs to do better so farmers don’t need to rely as much on subsidies.”

In the education category, farmers expressed a need for more education in areas of finance/accounting (56.6 per cent), marketing/hedging (48.7 per cent), and agricultural trades (47.7 per cent).

Evan Shout, co-founder and lead coach at Farmer Coach said there is clearly a need for more education in finance, accounting and hedging, but “we also need more people in agricultural trades, the ‘doers’ on the farm. It’s projected that 85,000 farm workers will retire over the next six years, and farmers are concerned about the looming labour gap.”

Prairie farmers are more concerned than those in other provinces about weather and environmental factors. Access to land is also a priority for the next generation of farmers in the prairies, while access to capital seems to be top of mind elsewhere.

Beischlag Farms files an appeal

 

Beischlag Farms Inc. has filed an appeal with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Appeal Tribunal against the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board.

Matt Beischlag runs the farm, which includes cash cropping, near Jarvis.