Calihan Processing Cooperative

Calihan Processing Cooperative operates at One South Street in Peoria, Illinois, in Peoria County. The plant is listed with USDA FSIS under establishment number M6775+V6775 for meat slaughter, meat processing, and export certification, with a grant of inspection date on file of July 10, 2020. FSIS classes the plant as small and lists hogs as the only species slaughtered under inspection, with a slaughter volume category of 4.0. No custom-exempt activity is reported to FSIS.

The company website, published under the Calihan Pork Processors name, describes the business as a family owned company since 1937 and states that Calihan does not make a finished product. Its stated business is producing raw materials for companies that turn the pork into finished, value-added products, principally fresh sausage makers. The site describes a pre-rigor, or hot-boned, pork process inaugurated in 1987 and claims plant capacity of 700 sows per day, with product shipped anywhere in the continental United States. The site lists USDA inspection and BRC Certified Grade A food safety certification.

Ownership history on the website runs from the 1937 founding by Russell Myatt, Harry Myatt, and Paul Calihan, through Lou Landon beginning in 1953, to Tom Landon as the third generation in 2002, and a 2020 combination with American Foods Group, LLC. A secondary trade press item dated November 2025 reports that a producer cooperative acquired Calihan Pork Processors from American Foods Group, which is consistent with the cooperative name on the FSIS record. Contact numbers differ between sources: FSIS lists (309) 512-7124, while the website lists 309-674-9175 and a fax of 309-674-3003.

The plant reports hog slaughter under federal inspection to FSIS and reports no custom-exempt activity, so there is no indication in the record that it handles individual farm animals for return to the owner. The website describes a wholesale sow harvest operation with a stated capacity of 700 sows per day, large stockyards holding days rather than hours of harvest capacity, and access to sow supply within a short distance in the Midwest. Booking procedures, minimums, fees, and cut and wrap options are not stated in the sources on file. Producers should contact the plant directly to learn what, if any, arrangements are available.

Calihan Processing Cooperative operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

The website states plainly that Calihan does not make a finished product and sells only raw materials to companies that produce value-added products. No retail counter, halves or quarters, bundles, delivery, or online ordering is mentioned in any source on file.

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.