Helena Farm

Helena Farm is a very small establishment in Sumner, Illinois, in Lawrence County, operating under USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service establishment number M1832+P1832. The federal record lists four activities at the site: meat slaughter, meat processing, poultry slaughter and poultry processing. The grant of inspection on file is dated August 8, 2024. Species reported slaughtered under inspection are hogs, sheep and lamb, goats, and poultry. The plant falls in FSIS slaughter volume category 3.0, indicating a low annual head count relative to larger commercial plants.

In addition to federally inspected work, the establishment reports custom exempt slaughter, meaning it processes animals owned by the customer with packages marked Not for Sale, and it reports retail exempt sales. The listed phone number is (618) 354-0956.

The website recorded on file, helenaagri.com, belongs to Helena Agri-Enterprises, a crop input and agronomy company headquartered in Collierville, Tennessee, and does not describe this meat plant. No operational details for Helena Farm, such as hours, pricing, scheduling, cut and wrap options, or retail offerings, are on file. A secondary search snippet from a regional food council social media post refers to a chicken processing plant in Sumner, Illinois being destroyed; that report is not confirmed by the federal record here, so buyers and producers should contact the establishment directly to confirm current status before hauling animals or planning purchases.

The federal record lists Helena Farm as slaughtering hogs, sheep and lamb, goats, and poultry under inspection, and it also reports custom exempt slaughter, in which the animals remain the customer's property and the finished packages are marked Not for Sale. The plant is classified very small by FSIS and sits in slaughter volume category 3.0, so capacity is limited compared with larger plants. Booking procedures, lead times, minimums, kill fees, hanging weight charges, and cut and wrap options are not stated in any source on file. A producer should call (618) 354-0956 to confirm species accepted, scheduling and current operating status, as listed.

Helena Farm 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.

The establishment reports retail exempt sales to FSIS, which generally allows direct sales of meat to household customers at the plant. No source on file names specific products, cuts, bundles, halves or quarters, delivery, shipping, or online ordering, and no retail hours are documented. Households interested in buying should contact the plant directly to confirm what is available.

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.