In 2019, Dean foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is one of the largest dairy companies in the U.S. Now, as the company is going through those bankruptcy proceedings, the company is targeting farmers that sold milk to them in three months leading up to the bankruptcy. Many producers have received letters threatening legal action if the money is not returned. The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) says they will not stand for what they call ?predatory actions?, and are threatening their own legal action if it does not stop.
Travis Cushman is the AFBF?s senior counsel for public policy. He says that farmers who were conducting business with Dean Foods were doing so in the normal course of events and should be exempted from any attempts by the company to try to recoup monies paid out for milk sold.
Cushman says that this attempt by Dean foods is nothing more than a ?Predatory Shakedown.? The payments to farmers for their milk are highly regulated by the Federal Government, and these attempts are an “attempt at extortion.” He says that the AFBF will not stand by and let these threats to American dairy farmers go unanswered.
The American Farm Bureau Federation has decided to fight back for the American producers. They sent a letter to the law firm managing the affairs for Dean Foods, asking them to immediately reverse course on the threatened legal action. AFBF has threatened legal action of their own if Dean Foods does not comply. Cushman says these dairy producers have gone through enough and are making very little. The last thing they need is to be told they have to give back the money they were paid for their products.
