Tyson’s Settlement With Chicken Farmers Is Worth $21 Million

Tyson Foods Inc. will pay $21 million to escape antitrust litigation over its alleged role in an industrywide scheme to drive down pay for chicken farmers until they’re permanently indebted “modern-day sharecroppers,” according to a federal court filing in Oklahoma.

The “icebreaker” settlement, docketed July 30, calls for Tyson to cooperate against the other poultry processors targeted by the proposed class action moving forward in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Perdue Farms LLC is also finalizing a deal to exit the case.

The lawsuit has “been vigorously prosecuted—and contested—at every stage,” the farmers leading the ...