The beef between a Utah livestock supplier and an Idaho cattle dealer has gone from simmer to full boil, with a regional cooperative in North Salt Lake firing back in federal court over a high-dollar cattle deal gone sour. At the center of the feud is a 2025 purchasing agreement, a long run of cattle deliveries, and dueling claims over whether millions were unpaid or improperly held back.
Producers Files $11.6M Countersuit
According to Capital Press, Producers Livestock Marketing Association of North Salt Lake has responded in the U.S. District Court in Idaho by denying Roman Cattle Co.'s accusations and lodging its own counterclaims worth roughly $11.6 million. The cooperative alleges Roman Cattle and related companies repeatedly failed to pay the full amounts due for cattle delivered throughout 2025, leaving what Producers describes as a substantial net unpaid balance it now wants the court to help collect.
What Roman Cattle Alleged First
Roman Cattle drew first blood in mid-December, filing suit and claiming Producers withheld about $10.8 million in payments while tacking on excessive commissions and sending lower-grade cattle than promised, as reported by the Western Livestock Journal. WLJ noted that under the contract at issue, the dealer shipped more than 100 loads, roughly 29,100 head, between January and September 2025 and paid about $72 million for those cattle.
Fraud Allegation Centers on Wire Promises
The producers’ countersuit also targets Sanin Mirvic, CEO of American Farmers Network, accusing him of repeatedly promising multimillion-dollar wire transfers in 2025 that either came up short or never landed at all. As detailed by Capital Press, Producers says those alleged broken promises were misrepresentations intended to induce further livestock deliveries. The cooperative argues the shortfalls amount to fraud and that the payment practices violate the federal Packers and Stockyards Act.
American Farmers Network and the Idaho Plant
Industry reports have already tied Mirvic and American Farmers Network to the Idaho Falls slaughter facility at the heart of the supply and payment questions. In mid-2025, AFN announced it had acquired control of Intermountain Packing LLC, the Idaho Falls beef plant, a move that linked the company’s leadership directly to the operation handling the cattle, according to Meat+Poultry. AFN described the purchase as part of its push to integrate processing into its supply chain.
Intermountain Packing Faces Separate Suit
Intermountain Packing’s legal headaches were already mounting even before the latest countersuit. The Idaho plant is named in a separate 2024 federal complaint accusing it of failing to pay about $2 million for culled dairy cows, a case that remains pending, according to Justia Dockets & Filings. With overlapping lawsuits and big money on the line, the Idaho Falls facility has become a focal point for producers and buyers pressing to get paid.
Legal Angle
Producers’ countersuit leans heavily on the Packers and Stockyards Act, a federal law enforced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that bars deceptive and unfair practices in livestock markets and is designed to protect sellers’ right to timely, accurate payment. The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has recently updated its enforcement guidance under the statute, and its FAQ spells out how producers can report suspected violations and what kinds of conduct may prompt agency scrutiny, per USDA AMS.
The Roman Cattle lawsuit is assigned to the U.S. District Court in Idaho and is available on the public court docket. Future hearings, motions, and filings will appear in PACER and on the case docket as the parties continue to spar in writing. Those who want to track every twist can follow the case on Justia Dockets & Filings as the dueling claims work their way through the federal system.
