Workers set up a temporary building for John Deere on Jan. 3, 2022 in the parking lot of the Las Vegas Convention Center in preparation for CES 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Steve Marcus)

Deere must face FTC’s antitrust lawsuit over repair costs, US judge rules

Suite alleges Deere violated U.S. antitrust laws by controlling too tightly where and how farmers could repair equipment

Reading Time: 2 minutes Agriculture equipment giant Deere must face a lawsuit by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accusing the company of forcing farmers to use its authorized dealer network and driving up their costs for parts and repairs, a U.S. judge has ruled.

Signage on Viterra’s office building in Regina. (Dave Bedard photo)

Bunge seeks antitrust approvals for Viterra merger in major jurisdictions

Commodities market competition healthy in Canada, U.S., CEO says

Reading Time: < 1 minute Minneapolis | Reuters — Bunge has filed for regulatory approvals for its merger with crop handler Viterra in “major jurisdictions” in North and South America, Europe and China, and has gotten the green light from some of its smaller markets including Colombia, CEO Greg Heckman said on Thursday. The merger, which would create a company […] Read more


(File photo)

‘Shocking’ farm videos barred at egg-price antitrust trial in Chicago

Food firms sought to show animal care claims not genuine

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — A U.S. judge has barred Kraft, Kellogg and other major food producers from showing what the court called “shocking” and “heart-wrenching” videos of conditions inside certain hen houses at an upcoming antitrust trial against egg producers and marketers. In a ruling on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Steven Seeger in Chicago said the risk […] Read more

(FITTrials.com)

Competition Bureau’s call for Manitoba elevator sale rejected

Bureau 'carefully reviewing' Competition Tribunal decision

Reading Time: 2 minutes A federal antitrust tribunal’s decision may soon make Canadian grain firm Parrish and Heimbecker the uncontested owner of the full set of Louis Dreyfus’ Prairie grain elevators. In a decision dated Oct. 31, the Competition Tribunal — the federal quasi-judicial body with the power of approval over any antitrust actions proposed by the federal Competition […] Read more


File photo of a truck arriving at a Smithfield Foods pork plant at Smithfield, Va. on Oct. 17, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Tom Polansek)

Smithfield Foods to pay US$75 million in pork price-fixing settlement

Follows similar settlement by JBS

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Smithfield Foods has agreed to pay US$75 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the meat producer and several competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the $20 billion-a-year U.S. pork market by limiting supply. A preliminary settlement in the antitrust case was filed on Tuesday night with the federal court […] Read more

A plate of honey dijon glazed chicken wings. (SandersonFarms.com)

Cargill, Continental close U.S. chicken deal

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — Cargill and Continental Grain said on Friday that they had closed their deal to buy Sanderson Farms, the third largest chicken producer, in a deal worth some US$4.53 billion. Under the deal, which was announced last August, Sanderson is being combined with Continental Grain subsidiary Wayne Farms. Sanderson will cease trading […] Read more


Employees walk around with face masks at the JBS USA meat packing plant at Greeley, Colorado on April 14, 2020. (File photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

JBS reaches ‘icebreaker’ settlement of beef price-fixing claims

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — JBS has agreed to pay US$52.5 million to settle litigation accusing meatpacking companies of conspiring to limit supply in the $63 billion-a-year U.S. beef market in order to inflate prices and boost profit. The preliminary settlement by the Brazilian company and its U.S. units with so-called direct purchasers was disclosed on Tuesday, and […] Read more



The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. ag secretary backs proposed meatpacking investigator

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposal to establish a special investigator to address concerns about anti-competitive practices in the meat and poultry industries. Republican U.S. Senators Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Charles Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana have proposed legislation […] Read more

(Sansubba/iStock/Getty Images)

Pilgrim’s Pride strikes deal over U.S. chicken price-fixing charges

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. poultry company Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. said Wednesday it will pay a US$110.5 million fine after striking a plea deal with the Justice Department over price-fixing charges on chicken products. The guilty plea makes Pilgrim’s Pride, mostly owned by Brazilian meatpacker JBS, the first U.S. chicken company to reach an agreement with the […] Read more