DFA Defendants Settle in SE Milk Litigation: $140 Million+, Market Changes, Increased Transparency, Open Documents

22 Jan

DFA Defendants Settle Pre-Trial In SE Milk Litigation:

$140 Million Lump Sum plus $18.6 million in Increased Prices for Utilization, Marketplace Changes, Transparency, Open Documents

 

At the 11th Hour with Trial looming, a proposed Settlement Agreement in the Southeast Milk Litigation has been reached by Dairy Farmer Plaintiffs and DFA & related defendants.   Appropriate motions and documents were filed with the Court on Monday, January 21, and approved by the Court this morning, January 22.

 

The proposed settlement blends the elements of a $140 Million monetary settlement, market changes to improve utilization, resolution to opt-out of block voting to be voted on by DFA membership, and increased transparency in DFA practices.  Highlights of the agreement include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

a.)   The $140 Million monetary settlement will be payable in one lump sum to Class Members immediately following a claims period, similar to the Dean/SMA claims process.   $70 Million will come from Defendant DFA, $50 Million from National Dairy Holdings, and $20 Million from Mid-Am Capital.

 

b.)   Injunctive relief in the marketplace designed to raise Class I utilization in FMMO’s 5 & 7, coupled with an $18.6 million penalty account to be placed in escrow. If utilization goals aren’t achieved per benchmarks and dates outlined in the agreement, the escrow funds will be distributed to the class at varying levels.

 

c.)   Some of the previously sealed documents will be opened for public review per a Spring 2012 motion.

 

d.)   DFA will reconfigure member milk checks to reflect revenues, agency deductions, applicable premiums, deductions, or incentives, mailbox price, and the avg. Federal Order blend price for member’s pay zone.

 

e.)   Resolutions will be presented at next DFA annual meeting to disclose compensation and incentives for top five senior executives, along with per diem compensations of Board members.

 

f.)    Resolution or consideration whether DFA members should be permitted to opt out of DFA’s block vote, consistent with Senate Bill 457 (Democracy for Dairy Producers Act of 2011).

 

g.)   Resolution will be proposed at next DFA annual meeting for increased transparency and options in the DFA/SEAC election process.

 

Typical of Settlement Agreements, the Defendants admitted no guilt. With this $140 Million Settlement, plus the $18.6 in price increases added to the previous $145 Dean Foods/SMA monetary settlement, there was a recovery of 73% of estimated damages. According to class-action experts, this is an extraordinary financial recovery of damages. Typical Class Action pre-trial settlements average 20% recovery.  Both parties faced inherent risks if they proceeded to trial. 

 

More information will be forthcoming as Settlement Agreements are more closely analyzed and examined.  A Fairness Hearing, at which farmers will be allowed to speak, has been scheduled for April 3rd at 10:00 a.m.

 

The official court-monitored website is www.southeastdairyclass.com. The Settlement Proposal and Class Notices will be found there in the next few days.

 

Farmers,  consumers, and interested parties are invited and welcome to post comments at this site. 

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SEML Trial Week; Turning Point – DFA Trial, or Settlement?

21 Jan

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© Julia G. Walker, AgriVoice Enterprises

A Milkshed – in this instance the national Milkshed, and specifically the Southeast Milkshed  -  is affected by legal matters, some of those mammoth Federal Class Actions.

We are now on the cusp of what could be the food industry’s version of a Class Action trial that changes history.

This week, on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, the long-anticipated trial in the Southeast Milk Litigation, is finally set to begin after 18 months of Trial delays.  This is a crucial turning point in this significant Antitrust and Price-Fixing Federal Lawsuit.

The remaining defendants to be publicly tried are related entities of the United States’ largest farmer-owned milk marketing co-op, Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA).   The subsidiary co-defendants are Dairy Marketing Services, LLC (DMS); Mid-Am Capital, LLC; National Dairy Holdings, LP (NDH); and Gary Hanman, an individual, the former CEO of DFA.

Legal challenges are one of the ‘checks and balances’ instituted by the Constitution to protect citizens.  In this case, the citizens seeking legal interpretation and recovery of alleged financial damages exceeding $419 million of dollars are 6,100 present and former Southeast Dairy Farmers.

The Honorable J. Ronnie Greer has been the presiding judge, and twice he has been upheld at the appellate level when defendants challenged not one, but two, certifications of DFA members as rightful members of the “Class” – present and former dairy farmers who had been ‘harmed’ by the defendants’ activities.

POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS for DFA DEFENDANTS:

If the jury trial should proceed, and the defendants found guilty at the jury trial, there would be an automatic trebling of the damages to $1.26 Billion dollars for which the Co-op would be liable.

That huge potential liability, and the risk of payment should Defendants indeed be found guilty, will be a key factor in determining if Trial proceeds or if there will be a Settlement offer by the defendants.

Not only is there the $419 Million/$1.26 Billion financial spectre looming for DFA, there are also implications that could possibly affect their Capper-Volsted standing.

The Act itself – 2 pgs.:  http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5066357

A legal perspective by Christine Varney, formerly of the DOJ:

http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/antitrust_source/Dec10_Varney12_21.authcheckdam.pdf

Judge Greer is already on record stating in July of 2012:  “The plaintiffs have offered convincing proof sufficient to meet their burden under Rule 23 that DFA and the DFA related defendants have engaged in illegal conduct in violation of the Sherman Act and that the members of the DFA subclass have, across the board, suffered common injury as a result of the DFA defendants’ conduct.”  He went on to say that final determination would be made at a jury trial.

DFA defendants’ in this case refers largely to persons in corporate management and decision-making positions, NOT the grass-roots membership of family dairy farmers. In an exchange with the defense attorneys during one hearing, Judge Greer  noted that for a conspiracy to take place, it was not necessary for all parties to know what the others were doing when several ‘conspirators’ (a legal term) were involved in the process.

The outcome (for better or worse) may affect the financial sustainability of family dairy farms which now supply consumers in the Southeast with fresh, locally-produced milk. Exactly how that could occur remains to be seen.  In addition, dairy related jobs and the economies of the southeast agricultural community may be either preserved or depleted.

Since DFA is a national co-op, any financial liability may also affect DFA members nationwide. And again, the nature and depth of such a liability are unknown and only speculation until a resolution is reached.  One DFA producer, who asked not to be identified, wryly said “If I do get a financial settlement, I’m looking at it like this is a way I will get my rightful allocations paid back much quicker than they [DFA] are doing now.”

At this writing, THE Dates are now there on the Court Calendar – two weeks’ worth of Federal Court time in an Antitrust Class Action Trial expected to last a total of 6-8 weeks.

The link, to the Court’s calendar:  http://www.tned.uscourts.gov/calendar.php

And what you’ll find, unless things change quickly, as they can with a legal proceeding at this stage of the game:

The Dates: Jan 23, 24, 25 (Wed, Thurs, Fri of this week) and Jan 29, 30, 31, Feb. 1 (Tues-Fri. of following week).   [Note: only two weeks at a time are typically posted.]

The Court Docket Notation:  “2:08MD1000 (JRG-C)JURY(6-8 WEEKS) – IN RE: SOUTHEASTERN MILK”    The key:

  • JRG – the presiding judge’s initials, The Honorable J. Ronnie Greer.
  • JURY – means this is a jury trial
  • SOUTHEASTERN MILK – the common name assigned by the Court to the Litigation – a series of filings, motions, responses, orders, notices, and other legal documents in relation to this case.

This litigation began in July of 2007 when two separate, but parallel, complaints were filed in the Columbia Division, Middle District of Tennessee.  One complaint was filed by Independent and Independent Co-op members, and one complaint was filed by DFA members.  In early 2008, the case was moved to the Greeneville Division, Eastern District of Tennessee, and the complaints were consolidated, and the roster of class representative plaintiffs consolidated and downsized.

PREDICTION?  TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE!!!

In the past weeks, with many folks knowing that I’ve been in the courtroom at almost every hearing since Sept. of 2009, I’ve been asked on several occasions by persons from all across the country:  “Will there be a settlement, or not?”

My answer:  It is totally inappropriate and disrespectful to all parties for me to predict either Trial or Settlement, particularly given that 90% of the discovery evidence remains under seal (not available to the public, but available for the Court’s review and evaluation).

Either resolution is up to decisions made by the litigants, the attorneys, and the Court, and must be done evaluating a myriad of court cases of which a typical layperson has no knowledge.   And as with any legal case, the status and schedule can change at the drop of a hat.  Stay tuned for announcements, or reports on daily events in the courtroom.

Only time will tell how innocent, grass-roots farmers, who had no knowledge of, nor any influence on, the actions taken by people they trusted with their financial well-being will be truly affected by the outcome.

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Settlement Funds Released; DFA Trial now January 22, 2013

10 Jan

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Southeast Dairy Farmers will finally be shown their money from the Dean Foods /Southern Marketing Agency (SMA) Settlement funds in the Southeast Milk Litigation.

The Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, presiding judge in the Federal Class action suit in which price-fixing was alleged involving Dean Foods, Southern Marketing Agency, and Dairy Farmers of America and related entities, filed an Order on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 clearing the way for the first payments from the $145 Million Dean/SMA settlement funds.

Total payments to Class Members are estimated to average $13,000 per claimant when payments are completed following a 5-year tiered payment plan.  Payments will range from less than $200 to more than $20,000 per farm, depending on qualified milk pounds belonging to each producer; an approximate net of 10-12 cents/eligible cwt.

With this Order, Claims Administrator Rust Consulting can now begin the process of writing and mailing checks to producers.   Given the amount of checks to be written and verified, it could be a month before checks are received in producer mailboxes.

Recipients of the checks are encouraged to check with their accountants to learn of IRS rulings which may affect the actual dollars received, and an individual’s specific tax situation.

Report of Claims Administrator:

Charlene Young, a Senior Project Administrator with Rust Consulting, filed an Affidavit with the Court describing the methodology, statistics, and other transparent processes which verified requests by Class members claiming pounds for purposes of receiving settlement monies.

Her affidavit states:  “The resulting claims rate of 98.8% is outstanding and virtually unprecedented.”

This is how the numbers stack up:

7,452 potential claimants were originally identified

A total of 6,165 claims were deemed finally eligible out of 7,363 claims form received

Three rounds of follow-up letters were sent to claimants requesting additional information

11% of eligible claims were audited (compared to 2-5% audited in typical Class Action suits)

10 claimants/applicants were ineligible because they were board members of DFA or SMA (no specific names stated)

The detailed steps are explained in a 376-page document found at this link:

http://www.southeastdairyclass.com/PDFs/MotionToApproveAndDistributeTheSettlementFunds.pdf

 

Milk & Dollar Numbers:

$140,000,000 – Largest out-of-court settlement ever entered by Dean Foods

72,984,858,627 (Almost 73 Billion!) pounds of milk ‘harmed’ in the Class Period from Jan. 1, 2001 to May 1, 2001

$35,458,613.64 Dollars in Net Settlement for Distribution to farmers after Court Authorized costs, expenses, and attorney fees

10-12 cents/cwt. approximate net claim per pound (allowing for miscellaneous expenses to come 

 

 

History of Settlement Process:

The road to distribute the Dean Foods Settlement Fund has been 18 months long following the first Dean Foods Settlement Announcement in July, 2011. Dean’s Settlement $140 Million offer was quickly followed by a $5 Million Monetary Settlement, coupled with injunctive considerations, from SMA and its CEO, James Baird.

Dean Foods Settlement offer followed a June 2011 ‘in limine’ ruling by Judge Greer in which he ordered that the Dean-Suiza merger agreements would be allowed as evidence during the litigation trial, then scheduled for July 2011. These documents have been mentioned at numerous hearings as a piece of key evidence in this litigation.

Two weeks after the Settlement was announced, Judge Greer decertified DFA members from the Class eligible to receive damages, in response to a motion by DFA’s defense attorneys made in the spring of 2011.  This decertification put the Dean Foods/SMA Settlement (per a Dean/SMA motion) on hold until DFA farmer members, as plaintiffs, received separate counsel by a differing plaintiff attorney team.

Brewer and Terry, of Morristown, TN, were approved by the Court to serve the function of reviewing all work done by the Baker-Hostetler original attorney team (formerly of the Howrey Law firm) on behalf of DFA members.  The appointment of Brewer and Terry ‘cured’ the intraclass conflict which resulted in the decertification, and the Settlement was reinstated on February 14, 2012.

This Settlement, with the entire Class of Dairy Producers in Federal Milk Market Order 5 (Appalachian) and Federal Milk Market Order 7 (Southeast) intact, then entered a claims process in the spring of 2012.  It took 11 months to reach a conclusion to this phase of the marathon litigation, now 5 ½ years in duration since originally filed in July, 2007.

DFA Trial now set for January 22, 2013

In a related matter, the long-anticipated trial against Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and related co-defendants Dairy Marketing Services, LLC (DMS); Mid-Am Capital, LLC; National Dairy Holdings, LP (NDH); and Gary Hanman, the former CEO of DFA has been postponed once again, this time only one week.

Trial is now set to begin January 22, 2013, and expected to last 6-8 weeks.

DFA is the nation’s largest dairy co-op, with over $9.87 billion in revenue and $2.1 Billion in Assets, according to USDA figures.

Important factors are at play:  $419 million is the assessed harm due to alleged activities of the DFA-related entities; an automatic trebling of that amount to $1.2 Billion occurs if a jury reaches a positive verdict for plaintiffs.

The Court’s made a statement in July 2012, found in a Supplemental Order:  “The plaintiffs have offered convincing proof sufficient to meet their burden under Rule 23 that DFA and the DFA related defendants have engaged in illegal conduct in violation of the Sherman Act and that the members of the DFA subclass have, across the board, suffered common injury as a result of the DFA defendants’ conduct.”

Judge Greer has stated repeatedly that all of the 90% of information remaining under seal will be opened once trial ensues. It will be interesting to watch activity unfold in the coming weeks in this historic litigation.

The Court has encouraged Mediation and Settlement throughout the litigation.  Final outcome, via either jury trial verdict or settlement, depends on application of Federal Law, the Court, and decisions of attorneys, plaintiffs and defendants.

For more information and litigation updates:

www.southeastdairyclass.com

www.milkshedsblog.com

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SE Milk Litigation Trial scheduled in 4 weeks; $1.2 Billion at Stake

18 Dec

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4 weeks from today, one of the most significant legal actions involving agricultural co-ops in the United States is scheduled to go to trial on January 15th, 2013 in Federal Court in Greeneville, Tennessee.

At stake?  Potentially, $1.2 Billion in damages, payable to certified Class Members (current and past dairy farmers) producing and marketing milk in the Southeast United States, within the geographic bounds of Federal Milk Marketing Order 5 (Appalachian) and Federal Order 7 (Southeast), covering most of the Southeast United States, with the exception of Florida.

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and several related entities are the remaining defendants in this extensive litigation. They are accused of price-fixing and antitrust activity, which thus far, has been deemed by the Court to have indeed harmed their own members as well as independent dairy farmers, living in the Southeast United States, specifically in Federal Milk Marketing Orders 5 (Appalachian area) and 7 (Southeast area).   [An FMMO is a defined geographic area, structured to aid in the marketing of fresh, fluid milk.]

Attorneys for the DFA defendants have consistently maintained their co-op’s innocence, yet the Class has been certified not once, but twice, in the past two years. The defense attorney team is led by Steven Kuney, of Williams & Connolloy, LLC, based in Washington, D.C.

Both times the Class Certification withstood petitions to appeal the Court’s ruling, in effect upholding the judge’s work and assessment based on facts presented in the courtroom. Along with courtroom work, there is a significant portion of the evidence that remains under seal, but which has been subject to the Court’s review.

Should trial begin, the presiding Judge, the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, has maintained he will open all of these records, thus making available all of this information which has been kept not only from the public, but supposedly from review by the great majority of DFA’s grass-roots owner/members.

In addition to the twice-certified class, Judge Greer stated the following in a July 2012 Memorandum Opinion which reinforced his June, 2012 Recertification Order: “The plaintiffs have offered convincing proof sufficient to meet their burden under Rule 23 that DFA and the DFA related defendants have engaged in illegal conduct in violation of the Sherman Act and that the members of the DFA subclass have, across the board, suffered common injury as a result of the DFA defendants conduct.“

Ultimate assessment of the dollar amount of damages will be up to a jury; plaintiff’s experts have calculated that amount in excess of $400 million. If defendants are found guilty should a trial go forward, amount of damages is automatically trebled according to Federal Court Rules, making the defendants subject to a $1.2 Billion dollar payout. (Amounts found in court documents.)

Known as the Southeast Milk Litigation, the federal class action lawsuit began in July of 2007 when two groups of Southeast dairy farmers (plaintiffs) filed suit in Columbia, TN, alleging price-fixing and antitrust activity against some of the dairy industry’s biggest players.

Defendants Dean Foods settled in the winter of 2012 for $140 million (admitting no guilt), and Southern Marketing Agency (SMA) and James Baird settled for $5 million and injunctive relief in the marketplace. The $60 Million initial payment on this settlement is awaiting disbursement from an escrow account.

Class members have been through an arduous and lengthy claims and audit process since May, not surprising since ‘average’ payment is expected to average $13,000 per claimant. However, that sum will vary widely due to herd size and milk production during the allowed class period, which began January 1, 2001. Payments will begin when the Claims Adminisrator files, and the Court approves, a Claims Process and Methods report.

Since that time, over 5 Million pages of paperwork have been filed with the Federal Court in Greeneville, TN. Dairy Farmers of America, the largest dairy cooperative in the United States, and its related entities Dairy Marketing Services, LLC (DMS), National Dairy Holdings, LP (NDH), Mid-Am Capital, LLC (Mid-Am), and Gary Hanman, an individual who is the former CEO of DFA.

Legal events are a significant, though not often discussed, segment of your worldwide milkshed. Over the next weeks, Milksheds will be reviewing some of the events that have occurred in this litigation, as well as relating some of the courtroom discussions. This should provide a quick review for consumers and farmers alike.

For additional information, please visit www.southeastdairyclass.com.  Click on the court documents, which are only a portion of the 2000 that have been filed to date. The numbers and dollars are mind-boggling, and are involved in the sustainability of fresh milk being produced on local Southeast Dairy Farms

France to the French Broad – A Uniform’s Milkshed

11 Nov

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A soldier’s World War I uniform is a visible reminder of many elements of today’s milkshed. This uniform teaches us how actions taken, although seemingly small and minute at the time, can have a long-term and life-lasting influence many years later.

In this case, the gentleman who wore this uniform nearly 100 years ago had an impact on your modern global foodshed, in several different  ways.  His name was John Graham, and he was my great-uncle.

Uncle John left his family’s Jefferson County, Tennessee farm to enlist in the Army in The Great War.  As common with so many young men of his day, his calling was not forced due to a draft; it was simply a point of honor,  and a belief that America had the duty being the world’s leader in defending democracy, and it was his responsibility to help that mission.

He served in the European Theatre, and returned  back to East Tennessee at war’s end. We know he was a corporal, but ’remembrances’ have him at a higher rank.   Hopefully, some of the paperwork and verification will show up in a long-lost box in the top of a closet sometime in the future.

A bit longer than a decade after he returned home, Uncle John’s family found themselves experiencing the government mandate of ‘eminent domain,’ when TVA began bringing dams to the Southeast and East Tennessee, both for flood control and in the name of jobs as the country struggled out of the Big Depression. The family was forced to move from Jefferson County by the Douglas Dam project, to a new home farm on the Little Tennessee River, in Loudon County, not far from the juncture with the (Big) Tennessee River.  That move occurred early in 1936.

As the family re-established itself with a diverse family farm (dairy cows, registered Holsteins, sheep, hogs, tobacco), my Uncle John was also building a real-estate career and working on the farm part-time.  His focus was on farm sales.

I was delighted –  and astonished - to find out recently that some friends of mine who operate a Polk County, TN river-bottom farm came to those life-generating, fertile soils courtesy of my Uncle John bringing them to that site. Their large dairy herd produces over 4200 gallons of milk a day - that’s a year’s worth of milk for 40 average families in a day’s time!

In the mid-60′s, Uncle John found himself, once again, in the middle of a Graham family relocation due to a TVA dam.  This time, the Tellico Dam project, again using eminent domain, came knocking and was telling my immediate family, with my dad at the helm, that we had to find a new farm.  Uncle John, with his real estate contacts, was instrumental in locating farms across the Southeast for my dad to look at (if you’re running a dairy, you don’t have much time to look yourself).   When he thought he found something that might work, our weekends were spent loading up and driving to check out what might be our ‘new home.’

This ‘looking’ went on for about 3 and 1/2 years before we finally moved to a new farm home.  The  process involved options on a river-bottom farm in Sequatchie County, TN, a row-crop farm near Guthrie, KY, neither of which materialized) and many, many dairy farms across Middle and East Tennessee.  Finally an unexpected death of a farm owner who remembered my Uncle John and Dad, and a widow’s desire to not have anything to do with milking cows, led to a somewhat sudden purchase of a farm that had been the very first one my family looked at.
 
Uncle John made the trip with my dad to sign the first documents of purchase, and may have even co-signed the loan (again, a missing file lost in a box would verify that, or not). 
 
This river-bottom farm near Newport, Tennessee lays in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, 20 miles from the NC border.  Through many hundreds of years, it has been home to Indians who grew maize (the predecessor of today’s corn, settlers, the Robinson family, the Myers family, and was owned by Mr. Sluder before the Grahams purchased it.  The last time cows were milked here was the late 1970′s, after I went to college, but it has played a huge role in the Southeast milkshed because grains grown here have gone into feed for dairy cows.
 
The river bottoms are bordered by the French Broad River, which some geologists recognize as the third oldest river in America, and one of the oldest in the world.  I can’t help but be amazed by the changes in the world that, “If this river could talk,” we would learn about.
 
My generation of Grahams is only a speck in time of the stewards that have witnessed changes in agriculture and in the world.  I hope we are up to the challenges that face us in a future of agriculture as we struggle to feed the world, and balance that struggle with the function of a family.
 
If only Uncle John, with his wisdom and perspective that were enhanced by a uniform of honor, were around today to give us some advice on farming, foothills, river bottoms and a family farm!  All of these elements affect the future of your worldwide milkshed.  Indeed, all of these elements affect the future of your worldwide foodshed!

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DFA Denied Appeal – $419 Million at Stake in January Trial

2 Oct

 

DFA Denied Appeal on Recertification of Class in SE Milk Class Action Litigation

Farmers seek $419 Million in Damages at January trial

(Greeneville, TN) Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA) has been denied their Petition to Appeal the Recertification of the Class in the SouthEast Milk Litigation.

With that action, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld, for the second time, the work of District Judge Ronnie Greer in the Class Action litigation alleging that Antitrust and Price-Fixing activity was conducted by the nation’s second-largest milk co-op. The Order was entered September 14, 2012.

The Sixth Circuit Order states: “The district court’s orders certifying, decertifying, and recertifying the DFA subclass reflect that it closely examined the evidentiary record and conducted a ‘rigorous analysis’ of this record before finding that recertification was appropriate.”

Following the Appellate Order, Judge Greer followed with a District Court Order stating: “Now that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the defendants’ application for an interlocutory appeal, there is no impediment to this case proceeding to trial on January 15, 2013, as scheduled.

“It is hereby ORDERED that the parties proceed back to mediation within the next 45 days and that a report on the results of the mediation be filed ten (10) days thereafter.”

DFA, the nation’s 3rd largest agricultural co-op and 2nd ranking milk marketing co-op is accompanied at the defense table by related entities Dairy Marketing Services, LLC (DMS), Mid-Am Capital, LLC; National Dairy Holdings, LP (NDH); and Gary Hanman, the former CEO of DFA.

In 2012, DFA had over $9.87 billion in revenue and $2.1 Billion in Assets, according to USDA figures.

In layman’s terms, rank-and-file DFA members will be eligible to share in any monetary or injunctive relief gained from either settlement or a positive jury verdict, provided no additional evidence is presented which would again decertify the class during trial.

The amount at stake? Quoting a June 12, 2012 Defendant’s motion, “Plaintiffs [farmers] seek damages of approximately $419 million before trebling . . . If the Plaintiffs are successful at trial, that number automatically would be trebled to approximately $1.26 billion.” [Trebling is mandated per standard Federal Court rules.]

This complex litigation has already resulted in a $145 Million settlement from Dean Foods and Southern Marketing Agency (SMA). Those funds await distribution pending final audits and verification of milk pounds claims during the Class period which have been submitted by class members. It is expected distribution may occur before the end of the year.

The $140 Million Settlement from Dean Foods is believed to be the largest legal settlement ever entered into by the global dairy processing giant.

Injunctive relief, in the form of a change in marketplace structure, was also a portion of the SMA settlement. Per terms of those agreements, applications are now being taken for a new manager of SMA, a marketing agency-in-common.

Many official documents, including class notices in the litigation, can be found at http://www.southeastdairyclass.com, a court-monitored website.

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Cow of Hope – Fight Like a First Grader!

16 Sep

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Cows can encourage the ‘milk of human kindness’ in worldwide hope, inspiration, and prayer. Childhood brain cancer is an unimaginable burden for two schoolmates to share, and these two girls and their families have been staring that demon in the face for several years.

Autumn (right), and her pal Katie, have been first-grade students of my Jersey friend, Cayci Barham Garrison, of Calhoun, TN.  Not only are these precious girls schoolmates and friends, they also share the unique bond that can only come from an incomprehensible burden. Cancer is hard enough to understand when an adult, but children? One can only shake their head, and hope- and hope- and hope-.

Autumn (on the right) had a relapse a couple of years ago, and after several rounds of chemotherapy in Tennessee, went to Houston’s MD Anderson for surgery and special proton-beam radiation this summer.  The treatments were successful enough for her to return to her SE TN home just in time to begin 2nd grade this fall.

Katie, a 3rd grader, has just discovered her cancer is out of remission, and she will be having a very invasive surgery this Tuesday, September 18th, at Vanderbilt.

And how does the cow of inspiration come in?  Calhoun is a dairy community in southeast TN, near Cleveland and about 45 minutes NW of Chattanooga.  When the girls were in first grade (Cayci was the teacher), the class undertook a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society. Black shirts, with the motto “Fight like a First Grader” were sold to raise money for research.

Later that year, the entire school extended that theme for their ‘decorated cow’ for National MooFest, a dairy festival originated by Mayfield Dairy of Athens, TN, that takes place at the end of May.  This unique painted cow to this day creates awareness and encourages the community to contribute to cancer research.    Young children have learned all too soon that cancer does not respect the bounds of childhood.

I thank Cayci for sharing much of the information that appears in this today’s post, and for the photo.   And I will thank each reader ahead of time for their prayers for the girls, and their wide circle of family, friends and medical caregivers.

Each day, we are given opportunities to serve our Lord, and to be grateful for both blessings and obstacles.  Today, I am thankful for the profound inspiration that shines from the life of these two girls and the families and community that surround them, and the absolutely incredible strength they display – every hour, every day!

Oh, the lessons we can learn from First Graders!  Please join me in ongoing prayer and hope as their journey continues.

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