It sounds like the exchange consumes bids, not just closed transactions. So these companies were basically publishing fraudulent bids that never completed.

I can’t tell from the article if they were bidding on each others eggs or bidding on other farmers eggs and then canceling.

Just par for the course. Stock spoofing is rampant, and securities markets are built on "failing to deliver" purchased shares.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57573604-naked-short-and...

https://www.dtcc.com/products-and-services/clearing-settleme...