Behrmann Meat & Processing, Inc.

Behrmann Meat & Processing, Inc. operates at 303 E. St. Rt. 161 in Albers, Illinois, in Clinton County, under USDA FSIS establishment numbers M20917 and V20917. The federal record lists the plant for meat processing and meat slaughter, classifies it as a small establishment, and shows a grant of inspection date on file of February 14, 2022. Species slaughtered under inspection are reported to FSIS as cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb, and the plant's FSIS slaughter volume category is 2.0. The establishment also reports custom-exempt slaughter, in which animals owned by the customer are processed and the packages are marked Not for Sale, and reports retail-exempt sales.

According to the company website, the business was started in 1968 by Dennis Behrmann and his father-in-law Vincent Tonnies under the name Tonnies Meat Company. In the 1970s Dennis and Elaine Behrmann bought out Vincent's stock and renamed it Behrmann Meat & Processing. Cliff Behrmann, their son, purchased the business in 2020, making it a third-generation family-owned and operated business. The site describes a fully renovated front retail area, route area, and exterior work in 2024, and the home page mentions a building renovation in 2022 and a new production facility to open in 2025. Employment is described as 75 or more full-time and part-time employees on the home page and over 80 full-time plus several part-time employees on the About page.

The website states the plant processes over 250 hogs weekly, all locally raised, and approximately 25 beef, and that venison processing reached 2,500 processed orders in the year described. Custom processing customers are said to come from a radius of 75 miles and in some cases farther. Wholesale customers span four states, served by eight delivery trucks reaching stores, restaurants, bars, and other meat processing facilities within a 175 to 200 mile radius. The website lists custom processing for pork, beef, bison, deer, goat, sheep, lamb, elk, and other wild game; the species reported to FSIS for inspected slaughter are cattle, hogs, and sheep and lamb, and game and other custom work would fall outside inspected slaughter.

The website asks customers to call to book custom processing and states the plant processes pork, beef, bison, deer, goat, sheep, and similar species, with custom customers coming from about a 75 mile radius and sometimes farther. Posted beef processing charges include slaughter at $95.00 per head, pickup beef at $135.00 per head, slaughter charges for quarters at $25.00 each, cutting and wrapping at $1.20 per pound, cut and wrap split sides at $1.25 per pound, cut only with no wrap at $1.00 per pound, whole beef in burger at $0.90 per pound, stuff burger only at $0.95 per pound, wrap ground beef in white charge at $1.50 per pound, cubing rounds at $9.00 each, patties at $1.55 with a 6 pound box at $0.15 per bag, slice and wrap all offal at $9.00, and bake and slice roast beef at $1.50 per pound. Game must be dropped off in back. The plant reports custom-exempt slaughter to FSIS, so animals owned by the customer come back marked Not for Sale. Booking lead times, deposits, and minimums are not stated in the sources.

Behrmann Meat & Processing, Inc. reports custom-exempt slaughter to FSIS, which means it can process an animal a customer already owns (a whole, half, or share bought before slaughter) and return it in packages marked Not for Sale. Most small farms have one or two plants they book with, and the plant's calendar decides the delivery date.

Behrmann operates a retail store at the plant, with the website inviting customers to stop in and pick something up, and lists retail per pound prices for a long range of pork and beef cuts along with deli items, party trays, and weekly specials. Wholesale pricing is available by phone at (618) 248-5151 or (800) 905-6328. The federal record shows retail-exempt sales are reported. The sources do not state whether halves and quarters of finished beef or pork are sold to households, and no online ordering or shipping is described.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.