Sanderson Farms Faces Trial in Chicken Broiler Antitrust Case

A blockbuster case accusing the nation’s largest poultry processors of conspiring to raise the price of chicken broilers is set for trial Tuesday, marking a milestone in the complex suit.

The trial is one of the largest antitrust cases involving the poultry industry, with billions of dollars of potential damages at stake. It centers on companies and others who directly bought broiler chickens — those raised for their meat and slaughtered before 13 weeks — from poultry processors.

The buyers, who include New York-based Maplevale Farms Inc., allege the poultry companies exchanged competitively sensitive non-public information about broiler prices, capacity, ...