MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota district judge on May 28 denied Agri Stats Inc.’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the data analytics company for an alleged conspiracy with major US chicken, pork and turkey processors.

The US Department of Justice and six states — California, Minnesota, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah — filed the lawsuit against Agri Stats in September 2023.

The plaintiffs claimed that Agri Stats’ business practices foster anticompetitive activity in the meat and poultry sectors.

Agri Stats began offering benchmarking reports and services to chicken producers in 1985 and to turkey and pork producers in 2001 and 2007, respectively, according to court documents.

Turkey and pork producers withdrew their subscriptions to Agri Stats’ reports after antitrust litigation was filed in the Northern District of Illinois. In 2019, Agri Stats stopped offering turkey and pork reports. The company denied any wrongdoing, citing lack of subscribers as its reasoning for ceasing the reports.

Agri Stats continues to distribute reports to broiler chicken subscribers, the plaintiffs noted.

The plaintiffs wrote that Agri Stats’ reports stifle competition and harm consumers as they are forced to pay higher prices for staple food items.

John R. Tunheim, US district judge for the district of Minnesota, said the government’s antitrust claims were sufficient for the case to move forward.

Agri Stats also filed a motion to transfer the litigation to its home state of Indiana or to Illinois, which was likewise denied.