About

As explained in the Final Judgment, the preceding capitalized terms are defined as follows:

• A. “Agreement” means any contract, arrangement, or understanding, formal or informal, oral or written, between two or more persons. 
• B. “Cargill, Inc.” means Defendant Cargill, Incorporated, a privately-held company headquartered in Wayzata, Minnesota, its successors and assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, groups, affiliates, partnerships, and joint ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents, and employees.
• C. “Cargill Meat Solutions” means Defendant Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation, a Delaware company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargill, Inc., and its successors and assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, groups, affiliates, partnerships, and joint ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents, and employees.
• D. “Communicate” means to discuss, disclose, transfer, disseminate, circulate, provide, request, solicit, send, receive or exchange information or opinion, formally or informally, directly or indirectly, in any manner, and regardless of the means by which it is accomplished, including orally or by written means of any kind, such as electronic communications, e-mails, facsimiles, telephone communications, voicemails, text messages, audio recordings, meetings, interviews, correspondence, exchange of written or recorded information, including surveys, or face-to-face meetings.
• E. “Compensation” means all forms of payment for work, including salaried pay, hourly pay, regular or ad hoc bonuses, over-time pay, and benefits, including healthcare coverage, vacation or personal leave, sick leave, and life insurance or disability insurance policies.
• F. “Competitively Sensitive Information” means information that is relevant to, or likely to have an impact on, at least one dimension of competition, including price, cost (including Compensation), output, quality, and innovation. Competitively Sensitive Information includes prices, strategic plans, amounts and types of Compensation, formula and algorithms used for calculating Compensation or proposed Compensation, other information related to costs or profits, markets, distribution, business relationships, customer lists, production capacity, and any confidential information the exchange of which could harm competition.
• G. “Consulting Firm” means any organization, including Webber, Meng, Sahl & Company, Inc. and Agri Stats, Inc., that gathers, sorts, compiles, and/or sells information about Compensation for Poultry Processing Workers, or provides advice regarding Compensation for Poultry Processing Workers; “Consulting Firm” does not include job boards, employment agencies or other entities that facilitate employment opportunities for employees.
• H. “George’s, Inc.” means Defendant George’s, Inc., a privately-held company headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, its successors and assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, groups, affiliates, partnerships, and joint ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents, and employees.
• I. “George’s Foods” means Defendant George’s Foods, LLC, a company headquartered in Edinburg, Virginia that is an affiliate of George’s, Inc., and its successors and assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, groups, affiliates, partnerships, and joint ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents, and employees.
• J. “Grower” means any person engaged in the business of raising and caring for live Poultry for slaughter by another, whether the Poultry is owned by such a person or by another, but not an employee of the owner of such Poultry.
• K. “Including” means including, but not limited to.
• L. “Person” means any natural person, corporation, firm, company, sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, association, institute, governmental unit, or other legal entity.
• M. “Poultry” means chicken or turkey.
• N. “Poultry Processing” means the business of raising, slaughtering, cleaning, packing, packaging, and related activities associated with producing Poultry, including activities conducted by Poultry Processors at integrated feed mills, hatcheries, and processing plant facilities and the management of those activities; “Poultry Processing” does not include Cargill Meat Solutions’ egg businesses or any of the CMS Secondary Processing Facilities, but it does include the downstream sale of products made from Poultry transferred from one of Cargill Meat Solutions’ slaughter facilities to one of the CMS Secondary Processing Facilities.
• O. “Poultry Processing Worker” means anyone paid any Compensation, directly or indirectly (such as through a temporary employment agency or third-party staffing agency), by a Poultry Processor related to Poultry Processing, including temporary workers, permanent workers, employees, workers paid hourly wages, workers paid salaried wages, and workers paid benefits.
• P. “Poultry Processor” means any person (1) who is engaged in Poultry Processing or (2) that has full or partial ownership or control of a Poultry Processing facility, or (3) that provides Compensation to Poultry Processing Workers; “Poultry Processor” does not include staffing agencies or other entities that are not owned, operated, or controlled by a person engaged in Poultry Processing or that owns or controls, in full or part, Poultry Processing facilities, that make individuals available to work at Poultry Processing facilities.
• Q. “Sanderson” means Defendant Sanderson Farms, Inc., a publicly traded Mississippi corporation headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi, and its successors and assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, groups, affiliates, partnerships, and joint ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents and employees. Continental Grain Company is not an affiliate, successor or assign of Sanderson Farms, Inc.
• R. “Wayne” means Defendant Wayne Farms, LLC, a Delaware company headquartered in Oakwood, Georgia, the controlling shareholder of which is Continental Grain Company, a privately-held firm headquartered in New York, New York, and its successors and assigns, subsidiaries, divisions, groups, affiliates, partnerships, and joint ventures, and their directors, officers, managers, agents, and employees.

The Final Judgments also require the Settling Defendants to undertake several notice, training, and reporting obligations to both third parties and the DOJ.

Additionally, with respect to Wayne-Sanderson specifically, the Final Judgment generally prohibits Wayne-Sanderson from reducing payments to growers supplying broiler chickens as a result of the grower’s performance in “tournaments,” with certain exceptions.

In addition, Wayne-Sanderson [and Cargill] must also comply with the Final Rule on “Transparency in Poultry Grower Contracting and Tournaments” issued by the United States Department of Agriculture on November 28, 2023.  The Final Rule requires Wayne-Sanderson to provide to growers a Live Poultry Dealer Disclosure Document meets various criteria.  A link to the USDA’s website about the Final Transparency Rule amending the Packers and Stockyards Act regulations is here.

Lastly, the Final Judgments require the Monitor to investigate and report on  Cargill, Wayne-Sanderson, and George’s (1) compliance with the terms of Final Judgments entered by the Court, and (2) compliance with the U.S. federal antitrust laws relating to Poultry Processing, Poultry Processing Workers, Growers, integrated Poultry feed, hatcheries, the transportation of Poultry and Poultry products, and the sale of Poultry and Poultry Processing products, as those terms are defined in the Final Judgments and explained on this website.