Arkansas Rice Farmers’ Lawsuit Dismissed (UPDATED)

Chief judge Brian S. Miller dismissed with prejudice on Tuesday afternoon a lawsuit filed by a group of four Arkansas farmers that targeted some of the state’s largest poultry companies.

Miller works in the U.S. District Court in Pine Bluff, and was responding to a request made on behalf of the plaintiffs by the Alabama-based firm of Hare Wynn Newell & Newton LLP.

A source on Monday indicated the case likely would be dismissed without prejudice, meaning it could be re-filed within 12 months. It is now closed, however, as ordered by Miller.

The farmers’ suit alleged the defendants — including Tyson Foods Inc., George’s Inc., Simmons Foods Inc. and Peterson Farms Inc. — “knew that excessive arsenic in chicken litter used as fertilizer on many rice farms in Arkansas would contaminate the entire U.S. rice crop and infiltrate the general U.S. rice supply.”

The suit also claimed publicity regarding the contamination “would result in devastating financial losses to U.S. and Arkansas rice producers.”

The defendants disputed the allegations from the get-go, and the Arkansas Rice Federation stated publicly it did not support the suit.

“We appreciate the court’s decision to dismiss this case,” Tyson Foods director of public relations Gary Mickelson said in an emailed statement. “As we said last year, this lawsuit is an example of frivolous litigation designed to extract money from companies that have done nothing wrong. None of our chickens are given feed additives containing arsenic.”