Overview
- The Justice Department and 17 state attorneys general, which filed the complaint on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, proposed settlements that would require $3.3 million in payments and 53 million eggs to be donated to food banks.
- The complaint alleges Cal‑Maine, Hickman’s and Versova coordinated bidding from mid‑2022 through March 2025 to push up daily Urner Barry price quotations that feed into many wholesale egg contracts.
- Under the deals the companies must stop competitor communications intended to influence benchmark prices, create antitrust compliance programs, appoint compliance officers, monitor cooperative meetings, and report possible violations for five years.
- The agreements are civil, contain no admission of liability by the producers, and will be published for a Tunney Act public comment period before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa decides whether to enter them as final judgments.
- Consumer groups and policy advocates criticize the settlements as too small relative to industry revenue while state officials say donated eggs and behavioral limits aim to deliver relief and deter future benchmark manipulation.