Dairy Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Certified by Federal Judge

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A federal judge has certified a class action lawsuit alleging the dairy industry limited the production of raw milk in order to inflate the prices of sour cream, yogurt, half and half, cottage cheese and other dairy products. The class action lawsuit alleged the National Milk Producers Federation aka Cooperatives Working Together used premature “herd retirements” to limit the production of raw farm milk nationwide, causing consumers to pay artificially inflated prices for dairy products.

According to the certification order signed by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White, the dairy product antitrust class action lawsuit will be allowed to proceed against the National Milk Producers Federation, Dairy Farmers of America Inc., Land O’Lakes Inc., Dairlylea Cooperative Inc. and Agri-Mark Inc. for violating the antitrust laws of 14 states and Washington, D.C.

The dairy antitrust class action lawsuit alleged the defendants engaged in a conspiracy that artificially inflated the price of milk and other milk products. The plaintiffs allege the defendants agreed to premature “herd retirements” that required dairy farmers to “destroy all of the dairy cows in all of their herds and, beginning on April 1, 2009, agree not to reenter the dairy farming business for at least one year.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture can set the minimum price that can be charged for raw milk. However, the federal agency does not set a limit on the maximum price at which raw milk can be sold, instead allowing parties to negotiate premiums for the sale of milk.

The defendants did not deny they engaged in herd retirement, but they contend their conduct is immune from antitrust liability. However, Judge White did not address the immunity issue in his order granting certification of the dairy antitrust class action lawsuit.

Last week, Judge White certified a Class of all consumers who, from 2003 to the present, indirectly purchased milk and/or other fresh milk products (such as cream, half & half, yogurt, cottage cheese, cream cheese and sour cream) for their own use and not for resale. To qualify as a Class Member of the dairy antitrust settlement, the consumer must have been a resident of Arizona, California, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin or Washington, D.C. Judge White denied the plaintiffs’ request to include West Virginia, finding they lacked standing in the state due to the fact that no plaintiff is from West Virginia.

The Dairy Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit is Matthew Edwards, et al. v. National Milk Producers Federation, aka Cooperatives Working Together, et al., Case No. 4:11-cv-04766-JSW, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: A California federal judge has certified the milk products price-fixing class action lawsuit, and a website has been established with more information about the litigation. For more information, click here or visit www.FreshMilkPriceFixing.com.