By Clark Kauffman
Iowa Capital Dispatch

Settlement is proposed as DOJ makes public its allegations

The federal government is alleging that an Iowa egg company conspired with other businesses to artificially inflate the price of eggs between 2022 and 2025.

The U.S. Department of Justice and 17 states, including Iowa, have filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Versova Holdings of Sioux Center, which owns Trillium Farms, a company managed by Versova Management Cooperative of Sioux Center. Other defendants in the case include a Versova affiliate, Centrum Valley Holdings of Sioux Center, as well as Cal-Maine Foods of Mississippi and Hickman’s Egg Ranch of Arizona.

The lawsuit also references “co-conspirator Cooperative A,” which is based in Aurora, Colorado.

Coinciding with its public filing of the lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Justice has also filed a series of proposed settlements in the case that will, if approved by the court, prevent the companies from engaging in the coordinated manipulation of egg prices. The proposed settlements will also require that the defendants adopt antitrust compliance programs, appoint antitrust compliance officers and self-report potential violations of the proposed settlements.

The government alleges that between June 2022 and March 2025, the defendants conspired to artificially inflate the daily price quotations for eggs published by Urner Barry Publications, a company that reports market pricing information for eggs.

Because many of the defendants’ contracts with retailers are based on the prices derived from Urner Barry’s price quotations, any increase in those quotations leads to higher prices for eggs sold to retailers and then to consumers, the government alleges. The government claims the defendants’ agreement to manipulate the Urner Barry price quotations violated the Sherman Act by restraining trade through artificially increased prices.

The lawsuit asserts that the defendants procured eggs from various egg producers or egg brokers through electronic exchanges, such as the exchange operated by Egg Clearinghouse Inc., or ECI. On ECI, egg companies can submit either “bids” to purchase eggs or generate “offers” to sell eggs. The resulting transactions are often referred to as “trades.”

Urner Barry’s price quotations are based on, among other things, the trades, bids, and offers on ECI as well as self-reported trades not appearing on ECI.

The defendants allegedly agreed among themselves to submit a large number of bids that were unlikely to lead to executed trades but would still drive up the price quotations, and by agreeing to execute trades off ECI at premium prices in order to further inflate the price quotations.

As an example, the government alleges, on the morning of Oct. 14, 2022, a Cal-Maine executive allegedly texted Hickman’s CEO stating, “We are bidding up. Let’s hold it today.” Later that day, Hickman’s CEO called a now-former Cal-Maine executive over the phone and by the end of the day, the two companies’ bids accounted for over half of all bids submitted that day, the government asserts.

On Dec. 19, 2022, Versova, Cal-Maine and Hickman’s allegedly held a regularly scheduled weekly call in which they discussed the price quotations. That same day, Hickman’s CEO emailed the other defendants, allegedly stating, “Need to push the spread into the northwest….” A senior Versova executive replied a few hours later, stating, “Our team will be bidding for additional loads again tomorrow.”

The next day, Hickman’s CEO allegedly repeated his request, emailing senior executives at Cal-Maine and Versova, stating, “Please consider posting strong bids, early and often. The market reporters don’t get in for another hour, so it will be good for them to see diverse bidding upon logging on.” Later that day, the defendants collectively submitted dozens of bids on ECI, most of which were at premium prices. By contrast, all other market participants combined submitted fewer than six bids that morning, the government alleges.

On Dec. 21, 2022, the CEO of “Cooperative A” allegedly joined Hickman’s CEO in asking the other defendants to submit bids to influence the price quotations, writing, “As a group we need to bid like they vote in Chicago — early and often.”

These alleged efforts were successful in raising prices in various regions, the government alleges, with Hickman’s CEO sending the other defendants a report stating “egg prices (were) hitting records,” while adding, “Great job in the northwest today!”

In 2024, the lawsuit alleges, the defendants lobbied Urner Barry, asking for ever-higher price quotations and requesting that the company place less emphasis on transactions by non-defendants that could have led to lower price quotations.

The price quotations dropped significantly from their February 2025 peak once the defendants learned the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating their actions, the lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit does not include any information that speaks to the total profits or increased revenue generated through the alleged conspiracy.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch was not able to reach company officials at Versova Holdings for comment on Tuesday.

This story was originally published June 30 on the Iowa Capital Dispatch website. Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.