Trump Administration Sues Egg Producers for Price Manipulation

The Trump administration is suing egg producers nationwide, accusing them of undertaking a coordinated price manipulation scheme.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, along with 17 state attorneys general, is suing Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Egg Ranch, Centrum Valley Holdings, Versova Holdings and Versova Management Cooperative, in a civil suit that alleges the companies dropped egg prices "significantly" after the companies learned the DOJ was investigating potential price manipulation.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, claims that between June 2022 and March 2025, the named companies worked together to inflate the daily price quotes provided to Urner Barry Publications, which is a marker reporting company that publishes benchmark quotes for the food industry. The publication focuses on protein markets like red meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood, according to The Washington Times.

In March 2025, egg prices reached a historic high of more than $6. That spike was driven by the avian flu, which was rampant at the time.

Since then, prices have fallen to around $2.50 for a dozen Grade A large eggs.

The lawsuit accuses the companies of inflating Urner Barry's price quotes, allowing them to charge more for eggs.

"Every year, billions of eggs are sold with prices based on Urner Barry’s price quotations," the DOJ said in a release.

The DOJ has proposed a settlement that would prohibit the companies from communicating with competitors about bidding strategies — including product prices — as well as about timing, bid numbers, supply and demand information they provide to benchmark publications, and any discussions concerning transactions that aren't "based on legitimate business needs."

The companies would also be required to initiate antitrust compliance monitors, allow for any meetings of cooperatives or joint ventures to be monitored, and to report potential settlement violations to the DOJ.

“The Antitrust Division is steadfast in our work to protect our nation’s citizens from illegal conduct that makes daily life less affordable,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in a statement.

Eggs and milk are often used as broad benchmarks for the overall state of inflation and staple costs for U.S. consumers.

“No product more quintessentially represents affordability than the price Americans pay for eggs,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said in a statement.

The attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin joined the Department in the complaint and proposed settlements.

“Food affordability is a top priority of the Antitrust Division,” Former Acting Assistant Attorney General Omeed A. Assefi of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said in a statement. “These settlements resolve years of conduct that dragged on Americans’ finances and their everyday lives.