JBS offers settlement in R-CALF suit

R-CALF USA and the National Farmers Union and four cattle feeders seek approval from the courts to settle with meatpacker JBS for $83.5 million.

JBS admits no liability and maintains it has done nothing wrong, explained Bill Bullard, R-CALF USA CEO.

The two groups and four feeders filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the four big packers, JBS, Tyson, Cargill and National Beef (Marfrig) in 2019. The suit alleges the packers violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, Packers and Stockyards Act and Commodity Exchange Act.

Bullard explained that the proposed settlement with JBS is subject to court approval. He said that if the court approves the offer, the plaintiffs would settle with JBS for $83.5 million – and the case against the other three defendants will continue on.

Bullard said that part of JBS’s settlement offer included an offer to provide some level of assistance with the ongoing prosecution. This could come in the form of documents or other information, but at this time he doesn’t know exactly what that assistance will look like.

If the JBS settlement is accepted, JBS will no longer be a defendant in the case.

Bullard explained that if the settlement takes place, the money would be divided among class members. There are two categories of class members –

•             All producers who sold cattle to any one of the four big packers from June 1, 2015 to Feb. 29, 2020.
•             And those people who had transacted live cattle future transactions at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and held long positions as of June 1, 2015 and subsequently offset the long position before Nov. 1, 2016.

If the court approves the settlement, those who fit the above scenarios will be contacted with details on how to file a claim for the settlement.

As for the amount of damages the other three defendants might owe, Bullard said “we are in the process of providing damages in the complaints. Our initial economic analysis suggests producers experienced a loss of about 6.7 percent. We’re still in the process of establishing the losses that our class members suffered.”

As for the ongoing nature of the case, Bullard said, “The discovery phase is largely over. We are now in the next step – class certification. After that will be motions for summary judgement and trial. We are progressing,” he said.

“We’re pleased to have reached this settlement with JBS and we look forward to prosecuting our claims against the remaining Defendants, Tyson, Cargill and National Beef,” said Bullard in an official news release.