Missouri poultry farmers are taking felony motion in opposition to Tyson Meals following the closure of the manufacturer’s Dexter, Missouri, processing plant.
The lawsuit alleges that Tyson breached its contract and dedicated fraudulent misrepresentation after the growers entered into hundreds of thousands of greenback in debt to replace and deal with their broiler and broiler breeder farms at Tyson’s request.
The farmers declare Tyson knew as early as November 2021 that it could close down the processing plant, however didn’t inform its growers in that space, and led them to consider the power used to be staying in operation. In January 2024, egg manufacturer Cal-Maine Meals introduced it used to be buying the power and deliberate to transform it into an egg processing plant.
Tyson firstly introduced the closure of the Dexter plant in August 2023, along side 3 extra of its processing amenities, all the way through its 3rd quarter profits name for the fiscal 12 months 2023.
As a result of chickens can simplest be transported 45 miles, in accordance to the lawsuit, and there are not any different processors within the space, the growers say their simplest choices are to close down their farms or tackle further debt to transform them to layer farms to fortify Cal-Maine’s long run trade within the space.
In Cal-Maine’s press free up in regards to the acquisition of the plant, it stated it expects to go into into agreements with a few of Tyson’s former contract farmers.
In an interview with information outlet kfvs 12, Russ Oliver, the farmers’ lawyer, mentioned:
“Our egg layer farmer shoppers were put via a torturous 5 months since Tyson’s August seventh closure announcement. They have got hundreds of thousands of bucks of debt on account of Tyson’s false guarantees. Cal-Maine’s proposal is to pay those farmers kind of part of what their contract with Tyson paid for a dozen eggs.”
Oliver persevered: “Generations of farmers have raised chickens for Tyson. Tyson strong-armed those farmers into taking over debt, and now the farmers are being strong-armed into taking horrible offers. That is improper, and we will be able to now not stand for it. Because of this we filed this lawsuit.”