Dairy antitrust lawsuit | New Mexico Dairy Farmers Win $34M Antitrust Deal
- ZISK
- Aug 12
- 1 min read
Cooperatives Settle Lawsuit Alleging Price-Fixing and Anti-Competitive Practices.
Seven dairy farms in New Mexico have reached a combined settlement of over $34 million in a federal antitrust class-action lawsuit against two major dairy cooperatives, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Select Milk Producers (Select). The settlement, which was preliminarily approved on July 31, also includes significant non-monetary relief for the plaintiffs. This landmark case in dairy economics highlights a critical issue regarding alleged anticompetitive behavior and its impact on milk prices paid to farmers in the U.S. Southwest.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a class of dairy farmers, alleged that DFA and Select violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by conspiring to fix raw Grade A milk prices. The plaintiffs claimed the defendants used coordinated price decisions, shared non-public pricing information, and selectively “depooled” milk to suppress prices in the Southwest U.S. market. The class included all dairy farmers who sold milk to the defendants within a region encompassing New Mexico, most of Texas, and parts of Arizona, Oklahoma, and Kansas from January 1, 2015, through June 30, 2025.
Aug 7, 2025
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