The Trump administration reached a proposed settlement on Friday in a federal antitrust case against Agri Stats, an Indiana-based company that collects nonpublic information from meat processors and shares detailed reports across the industry. The Justice Department said the deal is part of a push to lower grocery prices by dismantling an arrangement that gave processors an unfair advantage over restaurants, grocery stores, and other buyers.
“A stable and affordable food supply is critical to our country’s well-being,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “This Department of Justice is laser-focused on making everyday life affordable for all Americans.”
The case, initiated under the Biden administration, alleged that Agri Stats’ reports allowed chicken, pork, and turkey processors to coordinate pricing, effectively inflating the prices paid by downstream buyers. The proposed settlement, once approved by a court, will require Agri Stats to share most of the data it gathers with U.S. buyers, leveling the information playing field, the Justice Department said.
Agri Stats’ president, Eric Scholer, welcomed the resolution. “Agri Stats has been instrumental in the efficiency improvements in the chicken industry that have made such wonderful results possible,” he said in a statement, “and we look forward to continue helping our subscribers improve their businesses, which will make chicken more affordable for all Americans.”
The Justice Department is also pursuing a separate investigation into the beef-processing industry. In 2025, President Donald Trump asked the department to examine whether foreign-owned meat packers were driving up U.S. beef prices. That probe is ongoing.
The scrutiny comes against a backdrop of stubbornly high beef prices. The average price of ground beef hit $6.70 a pound in March, up 16% from a year earlier, according to government figures. U.S. beef prices have been climbing since 2020, driven in part by a multi-year drought that shrank the nation’s cattle herd. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates the herd is now the smallest since 1951.
Other forces are also at work. A three-year drought across much of cattle country continues to limit grazing, and the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border to livestock imports — triggered in late 2024 to slow the spread of the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite — has stopped roughly 1 million cattle from being transported into the United States.
The Agri Stats settlement and the beef-processing investigation represent the administration’s most visible antitrust push in the food sector, as officials try to deliver on promises to make food more affordable for American households.