Family farms are under assault in the United States. Giant agribusinesses have taken over most of the production, processing and distribution of agricultural products, and they strive to minimize payments to, and maximize control over, independent farmers. For that reason, ranchers are forced to accept non-negotiable contracts with meatpackers that saddle them with substantial risks; dairy farmers can only sell milk to one or two low-paying processors and often must join unrepresentative cooperatives to do so; poultry growers are forced to take on overwhelming debt while simultaneously being denied ownership of the chickens they raise; and fishermen often receive low payments because processors unlawfully monopolize markets or fix prices.
Our Practice
Large agribusinesses sometimes break the law in their determined effort to depress payments to farmers. Processors, meatpackers and integrators frequently violate the antitrust laws by conspiring to fix prices and monopolize markets. They also often exploit the regulatory system to manipulate or misreport data that sets the prices of agricultural products. All this misconduct directly harms farmers, who are paid less for their products and are unable to access competitive markets for their products.
Handley Farah & Anderson takes on giant agribusinesses that violate the law and injure farmers. Our firm pursues lawsuits against those companies to halt their unjust practices, restore competition to the market and recover monies for farmers. Our experienced lawyers have represented tens of thousands of farmers in class actions around the country and recovered more than one hundred million dollars for them.