Patrick Stueve Appointed Co-Lead Counsel in Nationwide Fertilizer Antitrust Litigation
On September 28, 2026, Judge Eric F. Melgren of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas appointed Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP partner Patrick J. Stueve and the firm as coordinating co-lead counsel for the proposed indirect purchaser class in nationwide fertilizer antitrust litigation.
The lawsuits allege that defendants conspired to fix, raise and maintain prices for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers beginning in January 2021. Under the appointment, Stueve and the firm will represent farmers and other purchasers who bought fertilizer through intermediary suppliers. The related cases were consolidated and transferred to the District of Kansas by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.
Stueve will serve alongside indirect purchaser co-lead counsel Rex A. Sharp of Sharp Law LLP and Don M. Downing of Gray Ritter & Graham PLLC. As coordinating co-lead counsel, Stueve will also work with leadership for the direct purchaser plaintiffs on issues common to both groups.
In selecting the leadership team, the court cited Stueve and his co-lead counsels’ extensive investigation of the claims, experience in large-scale antitrust and agricultural litigation, and ability to commit the resources necessary to prosecute the case.
The court specifically recognized Stueve’s leadership in the Syngenta corn litigation, which resulted in a $1.51 billion settlement for corn growers, grain-handling facilities and ethanol production plants nationwide. The order quoted the Syngenta court’s description of that recovery as “one of the largest known settlements in any kind of case.”
The case is In re: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) Fertilizer Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 3187, pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
Read the full appointment order here.
