This article was originally published at 7:14 a.m. CDT on Tuesday, April 14. It was last updated with additional information at 10:09 a.m. CDT on Tuesday, April 14.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- A federal court ruled last week that the multi-million-dollar settlements reached between the state of Oklahoma and poultry companies in the Illinois River watershed fall far short of the court's final judgment issued in December 2025.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma ordered the state and several poultry companies to agree to a remedy to reduce phosphorous pollution from poultry litter. The settlements were reached with George's, Tyson Foods, Cargill and Peterson Farms.

The court said the settlements fell short of the court's order from December in that they provide no phosphorous runoff restrictions, cover an insufficient duration, provide for an inadequate monetary remediation fund and half of the fund could be consumed by attorneys' fees, set no civil penalties, could lead to an increase in poultry waste in the watershed, and provide an overbroad release of non-party contract growers, among other things.

A spokesman for Tyson Foods said the company disagreed with the court's ruling.

"We strongly agree with Attorney General (Gentner) Drummond that this settlement is in the best interest of the state of Oklahoma, will bring much needed certainty to growers and appropriately balances the environmental and economic interests of northeast Oklahoma," the spokesman said in a statement.

"Although the ruling is a setback, we are not giving up. We will continue to work in good faith with Attorney General Drummond to find a way to put this dispute behind us."

The other three companies did not respond to DTN's request for comment.

Immediately following the ruling, the companies appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, Colorado. Legal briefs are expected to be filed at a later date.

"Had the parties truly wished to reach a negotiated resolution of this matter without regard to outcome, such agreement could have been reached at any time in the nearly three years between the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law and the judgment," the court said in its new ruling.

"The parties' failure to do so suggests they 'rolled the dice' and now seek to erase the result of that gamble through vacatur."

The court found the parties failed to demonstrate "extraordinary circumstances" required for post-judgement relief.

"Providing relief from the court's judgment, under the circumstances, may suggest to other litigants in this district that they need not engage in good-faith settlement negotiations in the earlier stages of litigation because any disagreeable consequences can be eradicated through a post-judgment settlement," the court said.

"Although the court does not wish to discount the concerns of contract growers in the Illinois River watershed, the asserted economic harm to the poultry industry and Oklahoma poultry farmers is too speculative to justify a finding of exceptional circumstances."

In February 2026, Tyson agreed to pay $19 million for remediation and conservation of the watershed, while Cargill Inc. and Cargill Turkey Production agreed to pay $6.5 million. George's agreed to pay $5 million to the state for remediation and conservation projects in the watershed, along with attorney fees.

Ford Drummond, president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, said the court's decision was a setback for ranchers. Although the cattle producers were not part of the case, many of them operate within the Illinois River watershed.

"Cattle producers across Oklahoma and the Illinois River watershed are greatly disappointed by the U.S. District Court's rejection of a settlement between Oklahoma poultry producers and the state of Oklahoma," Drummond said.

"The decades-old lawsuit relies on outdated information and fails to consider the adoption of nutrient management plans, increased efficiencies and the adoption of voluntary conservation practices."

Oklahoma originally sued Tyson, Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cal-Maine, Cargill, George's, Peterson Farms and Simmons Foods Inc.

According to Save The Illinois River Inc., as of 2019 there were 398 farms in the Arkansas counties of Benton and Washington, with the capacity to house more than 42 million birds at 1,835 poultry houses.

The Oklahoma counties of Adair, Cherokee and Delaware are in the watershed. As of 2018, poultry producers in those Oklahoma counties reported a licensed bird capacity of about 23.3 million at 1,054 poultry houses.

In December 2025, the federal court issued a judgment holding poultry corporations jointly responsible and required them to fund decades of cleanup and imposed strict restrictions on waste application practices.

The companies sought to dismiss the case that has been ongoing for more than 20 years, in a court filing in October 2023. At that time, the companies argued that any penalties or relief of any kind would be based on outdated information as to pollution levels and other watershed issues.

Read more on DTN:

"Tyson, Cargill Reach $25M Settlement," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com.

Follow him on social platform X @DTNeeley

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