Hickman’s Egg Ranch, Arizona’s largest egg producer, has agreed to pay a $1 million fine and donate 3.25 million eggs to resolve federal and state allegations that it worked with others to inflate prices. Federal prosecutors say Hickman’s shared pricing information through a system that let producers coordinate and artificially inflate egg prices.
The Justice Department says prices would be even higher today if Hickman’s Egg Ranch and others hadn’t lowered them after learning of the investigation and being told to preserve records. Hickman’s was acquired last year by MTQ USA, which says all conduct in the complaint occurred before the purchase. A representative of MTQ USA said everything in the federal complaint occurred before that acquisition.
Howie Fischer, Capitol Media Services Chief Correspondent, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the investigation.
