March 25, 2009
Illinois pork co-op files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Illinois-based Meadowbrook Farms Cooperative has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a liquidation of all assets.
According to the US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Illinois, the cooperative filed for bankruptcy March 21. A meeting of creditors is set for May 29.
The cooperative closed operations at its Rantoul, Ill., plant Jan. 30 and laid off about 600 hourly workers. The plant had a daily processing capacity of about 4,000 head.
Efforts had been made by the cooperative to find additional funding or a buyer of the plant to avoid bankruptcy, but none could be found.
Some producer-members of the cooperative reportedly hadn't been paid for up to 60 days for hogs that had been delivered to the plant. The US Department of Agriculture's Packers and Stockyards Administration then ordered the cooperative to increase its operating bond from US$740,000 to about US$5.9 million to cover the cost of the hogs. Meadowbrook Farms' management was unable to secure the needed funding.
