In the United States v. Borden Company et al., 1961, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a case involving alleged price-fixing in the dairy industry. The government accused several major milk producers and distributors of conspiring to fix prices, which is illegal under antitrust laws designed to promote competition and protect consumers from monopolies. However, these companies argued that they were exempt from such laws due to an agricultural exemption clause in the Capper-Volstead Act - legislation allowing farmers to collectively process, prepare for market, handle and market their products without violating antitrust law. The court held that while this act did allow for some cooperative activities among farmers themselves (like processing or marketing), it did not extend protection against charges of price fixing when done by corporations like those involved in this case who are engaged primarily in processing rather than production of farm produce. Therefore, these large dairy companies could indeed be prosecuted for anti-competitive behavior despite any connections they might have had with farming cooperatives.

In the dissenting opinion for the United States v. Borden Company et al., Justice Whittaker disagreed with the majority's interpretation of Section 3 of the Clayton Act, arguing that it did not apply to sales made by a seller to its own customers. He contended that this section was designed to prevent price discrimination between different purchasers who compete in reselling a product, rather than regulating prices charged by sellers directly to their consumers. In his view, applying this provision as interpreted by the majority would lead to an unwarranted extension of federal antitrust laws and could potentially disrupt normal business operations. Furthermore, he argued that there was no evidence showing any anti-competitive effects resulting from such practices in this case.