Throughout our food system, you’ll find Big Ag corporations playing dirty, manipulating the system to boost their profits while producers and consumers pay the cost. In 2023, the United States, joined by several state attorneys general, sued the data services company Agri Stats for allegedly violating the Sherman Act and enabling Big Ag processors and integrators to weaken competition and increase prices.
During the course of this litigation, the plaintiffs and defendant have sought to improperly seal numerous court documents—keeping them secret and out of the public view—and the court has let them. FarmSTAND has filed a motion requesting the court further consider its orders to seal this important information about large meat corporations’ alleged misconduct.
The public has a right to know the details about how the biggest meat corporations may have used Agri Stats to increase their power to the detriment of consumers and of independent producers of food. FarmSTAND has moved to unseal these documents to increase transparency into Big Ag companies’ alleged anticompetitive behavior.