The US District Court for the District of Idaho denies motion to dismiss antitrust conspiracy claims against potato grower cooperatives in US several states (In re Fresh and Process Potatoes Antitrust Litigation)

I Can’t Make You Love Me If You Won’t: Capper-Volstead Jilted* The intersection between the Sherman Act and the Capper-Volstead exemption for collective conduct by agricultural industry members has given rise to a number of recent cases. In re Fresh and Process Potatoes Antitrust Litig., No. 4:10–MD–2186 (D. Idaho) (“Potatoes”), is particularly noteworthy. There, the District Court held that the Capper-Volstead exemption does not reach pre-production farming activity, such as planting and harvesting, adopted to reduce the supply of potatoes – and hence, to increase the price at which the product is sold. Lacking any refuge in Capper-Volstead, such collective farming activity is fully subject to per se condemnation under the antitrust laws. The Case Background Suing in Idaho, the