The U.S. Justice Department has proposed a settlement with the nation’s largest egg producers who allegedly conspired to fix prices between June of 2022 and March 2025.
The settlement involves Versova Management Cooperative, which manages egg farms in Iowa, Cal-Maine Foods of Delaware, and Hickman’s eggs in Arizona. The companies will donate 50 million eggs to food banks and non-profits and pay $3.3 million.
The group Farm Action in Mexico, Missouri has pushed for the investigation, and co-founder Joe Maxwell says the settlement is not enough. He says the fine Cal-Maine Foods will pay is small compared to the $1.2 billion profit they made. “The fine, the penalty, the settlement amount is $1.5 million (dollars). One-point-two billion profits from one company and they’re going to settle for 1.5 million ? That’s not even a slap on the back of the hand,” Maxwell says.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird praised the settlement and says the state of Iowa will get about $90,000. Versova oversees Centrum Valley Farms, Oakdell Farms, and Willamette Egg Farms and Trillium Farms in Sioux Center, Iowa. Maxwell says the settlement money will go to pay back to the government but not to the people. “There’s nothing in this settlement for people. Second this. These companies should be reviewed for criminal action. There are laws on the books that would hold the governing boards, the CEOs, the presidents of these companies accountable,” he says.
Maxwell says eggs are a staple that almost everyone uses. “Almost every family eats them, almost every family paid a price, and yet this settlement gives them nothing,” Maxwell says. He says the companies claimed the bird flu pushed up the cost so they could get more profits. “The problem is the people paid the price, and these companies are getting away with it,” he says.
Maxwell says egg production has the same problem as pork, beef and others, as a small handful of companies control things. He wants to see more action against them. “We need to make sure one that we that the Department of Justice has the funding they need to go after these multi-billion-dollar companies. And we need strong laws and tougher laws to hold them accountable when they when they screw the public the way the egg companies did in this case,” Maxwell says.
Radio Iowa asked Attorney General Bird about Maxwell’s comments, but has not gotten a response.
