Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond provided a significant update on the state’s long-standing poultry litigation during the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Gubernatorial Forum on Saturday. Drummond indicated that a final resolution and the dismissal of the 21-year-old lawsuit appear imminent. Drummond and former state senator David Mazzei, along with Democrat Cyndi Munson spoke to the group of mostly cattle producers at the 74th annual convention of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association. All three answered questions about how their administration, if elected, would interact with agriculture over the next four years.
Drummond told moderator Ron Hays of the Oklahoma Farm Report that the nearly $44 million settlement—which involves all six major poultry defendants—is currently moving through the federal appellate process.
Shifting to the 10th Circuit
While the decades old case saw a federal judge find the companies liable in late 2025, the focus has shifted to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Drummond reported that the 10th Circuit’s mediator has reviewed the agreement and is now recommending that the judicial panel accept the deal and dismiss the lawsuit in its entirety.
“All defendants have joined me in an agreement,” Drummond said during the forum. “The 10th Circuit mediator… has accepted it and is recommending the 10th Circuit accept it and dismiss the lawsuit.”
Assurances for Poultry Producers
The litigation, which began in 2005 under former AG Drew Edmondson, had recently created significant anxiety among contract growers in Oklahoma and Arkansas. Some farmers expressed fears that the strict waste-disposal requirements and environmental monitoring would force major integrators like Tyson Foods and Cargill to pull out of the region entirely.
Addressing the “elephant in the room,” Drummond defended his pursuit of the case, noting it was handed to him just days after he took office. He emphasized that the final settlement protects the industry’s future.
“Poultry must exist,” Drummond stated. “Every contract, by commitment of the integrators, has been or will be renewed, and we will find a path where the water is pure and the land is strong.”
Key Terms of the Settlement
The $44 million agreement covers Tyson Foods, Cargill, George’s, Peterson Farms, Cal-Maine, and Simmons Foods.
- Under the settlement, the defendants will:
- Pay $41,671,000 into an Environmental Relief Fund for watershed stewardship and litigation costs to be transferred to the Oklahoma Conservation Commission;
- Pay a combined $420,000 in penalties to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Revolving Fund;
- Fund a combined $1.9 million Auditor Fund to pay for an agreed-upon independent compliance monitor;
- Progressively reduce how much poultry litter removed from poultry houses each year is applied to the land within the watershed — from no more than 40% in years one and two, to no more than 30% in years three and four, down to no more than 20% in years five through seven — and litter exported from the watershed to meet those limits many not be land-applied in any other nutrient-sensitive watershed in Oklahoma;
- Fund, or secure funding for, half the cost of installing vegetative buffers on qualifying poultry farms along Lake Tenkiller and the watershed’s Scenic Rivers, which filter runoff before it reaches the water;
- Submit to annual compliance certifications and audits with financial penalties for any company that does not meet its litter-reduction commitments.
- In exchange, the State will move to set aside the December 2025 court judgment and close out the lawsuit once the settlement is finalized. Payments to the Environmental Relief Fund are due within 30 days after the courts vacate the prior judgment and dismiss the case. The settlement runs for seven years, and companies must still follow all of Oklahoma’s litter-management laws during and after that time.
While some producers remain skeptical of the administrative burden, Drummond told the forum that the solution is “fair and equitable,” aimed at providing finality to a dispute that has spanned three decades and multiple administrations.
