Dean paying $140 million to Southeast dairies to settle suit; other defendants still in the dock

Dean Foods has agreed to settle a class-action, anti-trust lawsuit by more than 7,000 farmers in the Southeast, putting pressure on other defendants to settle before an Aug. 16 trial. “We feel the settlement amount of $140 million speaks to Dean's past activities in the Southeast and the impact those activities had on the dairy farmers,” Washington attorney Robert Abrams said.

"The case was filed in July 2007 in federal court in Tennessee against Dean, the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative and others," alleging that the companies conspired to stop competing for raw Grade A milk, driving down prices, the Washington newsletter Agri-Pulse reports. "Dean earlier settled a similar suit brought by farmers in the Northeast."