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Cody Easterday wagered hundreds of millions of dollars on the price of beef. He lost.

And the bills keep coming. Easterday Ranches filed for bankruptcy protection Feb. 1, followed by Easterday Farms one week later. The two Chapter 11 cases in U.S. Bankruptcy Court are being jointly administered “for procedural purposes only,” with court staff maintaining one file. Documents recently filed in the main case detail how much the three law firms hired by the Easterdays are seeking in compensation and reimbursement for Feb. 1 through May 31. They are the most recent fee appl...

They call it “Cattlegate.” It’s a modern-day cattle rustling scheme. Let’s start at the beginning.             In 1958, Ervin Easterday moved his family and farming operation from Nampo, Idaho to southeastern Wash., where he purchased 300 acres of undeveloped land in the new Columbia Basin Reclamation Irrigation project. With a meager annual rainfall of 7 inches per year, the new supply of water from Grand Coulee Dam changed this land forever.              As a ...

Washington rancher pleads guilty to stealing $244M in ‘ghost cattle’ scam By Kristin M. Kraemer, Tri-City Herald Published: March 31, 2021, 7:15pm Share: PASCO – The president of one of the largest agricultural operations in Washington state has admitted concocting a scheme to defraud Tyson Foods and another company out of more than $244 million. Cody A. Easterday, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in a case that federal prosecutors are calling a “ghost-...

For Tri-State Livestock News At the end of January, Tyson Fresh Meats filed a lawsuit against one of the largest farming and ranching families in Washington, Easterday Ranches, in an effort to recover losses from fictitious fed cattle sales and feed costs. Additionally, Tyson was hoping to recover 54,000 head of cattle still standing in an Easterday feedlot north of Pasco, Wash. The lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Superior Court in Pasco. On Feb. 1, days after Tyson sued Easterday Ranches,...

Courtesy of Franklin County, Wash. In southeast Washington, the welfare of more than 50,000 head of cattle is worrying Tyson Fresh Meats.  Can the herd continue to be fed and cared for while the company set up to guard over them, Easterday Ranches, files for federal bankruptcy? “The immediate problem is the remaining 54,000 cattle, which have to be fed, managed, and grown to maturity for delivery to Plaintiffs processing plant [Tyson],” Tyson said in a superior court lawsuit filed last m...

By Mackenzie Johnston, Reporter At the end of January, Tyson Fresh Meats filed a lawsuit against one of the largest farming and ranching families in Washington, Easterday Ranches, in an effort to recover losses from fictitious fed cattle sales and feed costs. Additionally, Tyson was hoping to recover 54,000 head of cattle still standing in an Easterday feedlot north of Pasco, Washington. The lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Superior Court in Pasco. On February 1, days after Tyson sued Easte...

Courtesy of Easterday Farms public Facebook page Updated Monday, Feb. 8, 2021, 5 p.m. PT The Easterday family spread unfurls across the Columbia Basin — yawning onion farms, massive potato sheds, huge swaths of ground cut into pens for cattle and a fleet of employee vehicles and tractors.  But the Easterday family has other assets: A million-dollar house in Phoenix and a private plane and hangar.  Since December, Easterday Ranches has been embroiled in an alleged scandalous cattle rustlin...