DOJ Probes Cal-Maine for Price-Fixing as Egg Profits Soar 247%

Cal-Maine Foods announced it is being investigated by the antitrust division of the United States Department of Justice for alleged price-fixing of eggs. The corporation controls about 20% of the US egg supply. It is also a primary recipient of indemnity payments related to the Highly-Pathogenic Avian Flu (HPAI) from the US Department of Agriculture. The company has reported increased profits as a result of higher egg prices.

The company had $508.5 million in net income for the third quarter of fiscal 2025 compared with $146.7 million for the previous year, which is a 247% increase. Cal-Maine had $1.4 billion in net sales for the quarter compared to $703.1 million for the same quarter in the previous year. The press release states, “The higher net sales were primarily driven by an increase in the net average selling price of shell eggs and also by higher volumes. The higher market prices are a direct result of the reduced supply of shell eggs across the industry due to HPAI during a period of peak seasonal demand for eggs and egg products.”

Cal-Maine Foods was found liable for a price-fixing scheme in 2023 and, along with Rose Acre Farms, was ordered to pay a $17.7 million settlement to Kraft, General Mills, Nestle, and Kellogg. The settlement stemmed from a price-fixing scheme between 2004-2008. Cal-Maine also announced that it will be acquiring Echo Lake Foods by the end of fiscal year 2025 for $258 million. Echo Lake Foods had a profit of $240 million in 2024.

Farm Action, an advocacy group, reported that approximately 10% of Cal-Maine’s egg supply comes from family farms. These farms are paid 26.75 cents per dozen, which includes the one-penny raise the farmers received from the company about six years ago. Axios reported that egg prices increased to $6.23 per dozen in March, which is based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Wholesale egg prices have dropped from $6.55 per dozen in January to $3.26 per dozen last week.

The Farm Action report explains that the inflated egg prices that have increased the profits of large egg producers like Cal-Maine have not been passed down to the family farms under contract with the giant egg corporations. The egg shortage from HPAI impacts the industrial size operations rather than the small family farms that contract with corporations like Cal-Maine. The Biden administration paid $1.4 billion in indemnity payments to farms after they culled millions of chickens. The Trump administration promises to spend another billion to support this effort.

The HighWire has reported about the decline of the family farm as corporations continue to gather a higher share of the national and global markets. Farmer and attorney Dustin Kittle spoke with The HighWire last year about a farm credit scandal that is still unresolved and ongoing. Farm Credit provides loans to help small farmers with their businesses, but Kittle explained how they extorted him for money through a predatory loan system that benefits large corporate suppliers like Tyson Foods. The HighWire also reported about the use of child labor for dangerous work in meat-packing facilities connected to Tyson Foods.

In February, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins announced new protocols to reduce the culling of chickens in an attempt to minimize egg prices. A biosecurity review is now required for farms that have an outbreak, and the federal government will fund 75% of the cost of biosecurity upgrades. Rollins visited Cal-Maine in Mount Pleasant, Texas in February when she announced the new protocols.

The USDA is also pursuing vaccine candidates for birds that would likely be put into the chickens’ water supply. Zoetis received conditional approval for an H5N2 vaccine, but it doesn’t closely resemble the H5N1 virus that is currently spreading. Meanwhile, the USDA states “Before making a determination, USDA, in consultation with HHS, CDC, NIH, and FDA will solicit feedback from governors, State departments of agriculture, veterinarians, farmers, the public health system, and the American public.”

Farm Action’s Joe Maxwell told The Lever “Rollins is standing in front of battery cages with Cal-Maine talking about lowering prices… well, you’re sitting there in bed with the very people causing high egg prices.” Farm Action also called out the USDA’s plan to go after cage-free laws to reduce egg prices. The organization wrote that cage-free farms fare much better than other egg farms against the avian flu.

The latest changes by Rollins and the USDA includes an increase from $7 to $17 per bird for corporate indemnity payments. Farm Action wrote on X last month, “Evidence suggests the egg industry cartel is taking advantage of the avian flu by restricting the egg supply and keeping prices high for consumers — all to rake in record profits.” They added, “We’re not gonna stop until big egg companies like Cal-Maine Foods are brought to justice.”