The DOJ and U.S. Department of Agriculture held workshops in 2010 on large agricultural cooperatives and their use of the law. Litigation has been mounting, too.
A similar federal lawsuit filed in 2010 targeting potato growers is now advancing in Idaho, a case that may eventually be combined with this one.
Meanwhile, antitrust complaints, including from the DOJ, have been lodged against mushroom growers, dairy farmers, egg producers and the cranberry industry.
Peter Carstensen, a University of Wisconsin Law School professor in Madison who focuses on antitrust cases, said a common gulf separates rival protagonists: On one side, large agricultural producers argue they’re legitimately using the power of the cooperative to create a more efficient market, while grocers and the government contend they’re inappropriately exploiting their antitrust protections.
“Capper-Volstead was designed primarily to facilitate more efficient marketing of agricultural products,” Carstensen said. “There’s an increasing perception that Capper-Volstead is being abused.”