Cattlemen Lose Pickett Appeal

Cattlemen suing Tyson Foods, then IBP, lost their appeal of a judge’s decision that said the packing company didn’t illegally use marketing agreements to manipulate prices in the cash market. The cattlemen also were ordered to pay Tyson’s defense fees. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Aug. 16 upheld the judge’s ruling in the lower court that the plaintiffs had failed to prove their case. 

A jury originally awarded $1.2 billion to the members of the class action lawsuit, but the judge overturned the decision. 

The appeals court wrote: “Many of the producers who testified on Pickett’s behalf had themselves sold cattle through them (marketing agreements). ... Other producers, like Pickett, place a higher premium on independence and prefer the cash market. They are entitled to their preferences, but they are not entitled to force those preferences on other producers and on the packers.”

The appeals court cited instances where witnesses for Pickett made the case for Tyson.  The court also said:  “We deal with real markets the way they are, not with how they might be redrawn on the blackboard in a classroom.”