Justin Earlywine pivoted his career path during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Around September 2020, he built a state-inspected meat processing plant out of an old barn in his backyard by converting it to include a processing room, cooler and freezer.

Formerly working in the fuel industry, Earlywine was inspired to open his own meat plant when he was struck by the overwhelming need for such a service in his local area. While filling up waste pumping equipment for a nearby hog farmer, he had the chance to take all the pigs he wanted for only $30 because the producer needed to get rid of them. However, a part of the deal Earlywine didn’t anticipate was how difficult it would be to get those pigs processed.

“I started calling around and everybody just pretty much laughed, like, ‘you can’t — no.’ They’re booked for a year or two out,” Earlywine recalled. “So I’m realizing, ‘Wow, the food chain is pretty vulnerable.’”

That epiphany set the ball in motion for the future four years and the creation of present-day Arrow Farm Meats, based in Rock City, Ill.

Arrow Farm Meats wasn’t born overnight. It began as a small operation solely for the Earlywine family, which consists of Justin, his wife Laura and their three kids. As an avid hunter, Earlywine had experience in field dressing and quartering deer, so without any local processors available to take his newly acquired hogs, he decided to take the matter into his own hands. Earlywine built a small cooler and cut room for personal processing on his property.

As word got out, community members began to stop by, asking if Earlywine would process any of their meat.

“We pretty much turned them all away, and then, I mean, they kept coming,” he said. “So, we started writing down names — numbers — just kind of seeing what it would look like.”

Earlywine began to feel a calling from the Lord to pursue this business. He met with state inspectors, who provided guidance on next steps and expectations of a certified meat processing facility. From there, he built the barn-based operation that Arrow Farm Meats is today.

Arrow Farm Meats stresses transparency by including a large glass window in the retail store that overlooks the cutting room. (Source: Arrow Farm Meats)

Neighborly advice

Coming from a completely different industry before opening a meat shop, Earlywine had a lot to learn. He credits his ability to navigate the learning curve to the willingness of other meat industry professionals to help. He emphasized his belief that these connections were made through the divine hand of God at work, setting things into motion.

When he first started out, a friend recommended that Earlywine speak with Tom Eickman, who owns and operates Eickman’s Meat processing just 18 minutes down the road from Arrow Farm Meats.

“It kind of blew my mind because why would you help somebody 18 minutes from you to do the same thing you’re doing?” Earlywine said. “But I remember I asked him and one of the first things he told me was, ‘There’s going to be something you do that people like; there’s going to be something I do that people like. As long as we all do it good, and we do what we do right, we’ll never run out of work.’ That’s the honest truth.”

Earlywine remembered making several phone calls to Eickman when he was first starting out.

“Tom’s really sharp on a lot of inspection things and food safety,” Earlywine said. “And he’s right down the road from me. There’s a lot of times we’ll call him with questions.”

Even now, the two stay in touch and help each other out. Eickman runs a federally inspected meat plant, so Arrow Farm Meats will use the facility for the slaughtering of its animals.

A good deal further down the road but still within the confines of Illinois is Leiding’s Meats and Catering, Danville, Ill., owned by Rick and Carolyn Leiding. The Leidings carry a legacy within the meat industry as accomplished professionals who are generous with their time and knowledge of the trade. In fact, they received the Annual Achievement Award at the 2024 American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP) Convention for that very reason.

Earlywine has been one of the many processors to have benefitted from the Leidings’ dedication to mentoring fellow industry members. As Arrow Farm Meats was getting its footing, Rick Leiding welcomed Earlywine to his plant to witness their method of curing bacon.

At the 2024 AAMP Convention, Leiding gave a presentation on how to make bacon — a lesson Earlywine received long ago in person during his visit to Leiding’s Meats and Catering. Because of the success Arrow Farm Meats has seen by implementing these insider practices, Earlywine made a guest appearance at the AAMP presentation, offering a testimonial to attendees curious about the benefits they could reap from the tutorial.

“What was a tickle to hear from Justin after he got back to his shop and he started making bacon with that recipe we gave him was the atmosphere and the attitude of his customer base was like, ‘This is good stuff!’ and bacon sales took off,” Leiding noted during the presentation.

The Earlywines encourage their children's involvement in the family business while striving to maintain a healthy work-life balance. (Source: Arrow Farm Meats)

Best foot forward

AAMP is a gateway for many processors looking to hone their craft and draw inspiration from fellow meatheads. The association has been an important part of Earlywine’s entry into the industry, so much so that he has gotten involved in serving on the board of his local chapter, the Illinois Association of Meat Processors.

Being short on time as is — just as every meat processor can likely relate to — Earlywine was hesitant to join at first. But remembering all the help that was given to him, he chose to pour it back into the industry and join the board as a director.

“If you’re going to be a part of something, that’s not something bad to be a part of,” he said.

Earlywine chooses to use his newfound knowledge and his business as a way to give back to the industry and the community. Looking to advise other processors who may just be starting out in the sector, Earlywine stressed the importance of joining AAMP.

“I think if you’re involved in meat processing and you’re not involved in AAMP, you’re doing yourself a disservice,” he said.

Forming a network of trusted industry professionals can make a big difference in setting up a new plant for success. The fragility of the economy paired with the high pressures placed on meat processors can make for a wild ride when starting out in the business. However, Earlywine emboldens others to embark on a similar path as him — one that comes with a lot of unexpected twists and turns but has been well paved thanks to the many feet that have tread the way before him.

“Don’t be intimidated,” Earlywine said. “Don’t let it run your life, which is so easy to say but really hard to do. Don’t let it run you. Find people you trust in the industry and ask questions.”

Earlywine noted that, above all, none of his journey into the meat industry would have been possible without his faith propelling him forward.

“I feel like the Lord’s led us to this industry and to people like Tom and Rick,” he said. “There’s no way I would’ve left a good full-time job without His calling me into it.”