The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a class of dairy farmers, alleged that DFA and Select violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by conspiring to fix raw Grade A milk prices. The plaintiffs claimed the defendants used coordinated price decisions, shared non-public pricing information, and selectively “depooled” milk to suppress prices in the Southwest U.S. market. The class included all dairy farmers who sold milk to the defendants within a region encompassing New Mexico, most of Texas, and parts of Arizona, Oklahoma, and Kansas from January 1, 2015, through June 30, 2025.

As part of the settlement, DFA will pay $24.5 million and Select will pay $9.9 million. These funds will be deposited into an escrow account within 21 days of the court’s approval. The amounts are “all-in,” covering all fees and administrative costs. This resolution follows a period of litigation where a motion to dismiss was denied, with the court ruling that the complaint plausibly alleged anticompetitive conduct. The subsequent cooperation of DFA against Select was a key factor in reaching a final settlement.

The non-monetary provisions of the settlement are particularly significant for the future of the agribusiness sector. Both cooperatives have agreed to dissolve their co-owned milk marketer, Greater Southwest Agency (GSA), which the lawsuit alleged was a primary mechanism of the conspiracy. Additionally, both DFA and Select will implement new antitrust training programs for executives and agree to refrain from sharing non-public milk pay price information with each other. They will also provide more transparent information to their members regarding milk payments.