Since 1901, our family has called the same small corner of the world home in Bonifay, FL.

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the concept of manifest destiny was alive and well in the United States of America. Riding on the coattails of this, Jim Paul—our first generation—found himself on a 40-acre homestead in what was then Holmes, FL.

With the origination documents of the homestead first dating 1901, Jim did not officially own the land until 1906, after he had spent a back-breaking five years “beautifying” the land. Jim, formerly known as James Reilly Paul, had a plentiful existence and fathered seven children, all of whom grew up on the family land. At this time, the homestead was focused on raising livestock and produce intended to feed his family and some of the surrounding community. Following his death, he divided the land amongst his children evenly, ensuring all received a parcel.

Second generation, Cora Lee Paulk Simmons, was affectionally known to us as “Big Momma”. Despite the original homestead being parceled into smaller segments, all of the siblings remained close and within reach. Some parcels grew while others sold, but Big Momma’s parcel remained largely unchanged. Still, the original Paul homestead focused largely on raising livestock and row cropping.

Third generation, Rayburn Paulk, thought a bit differently than previous generations. While his early years at the helm of the family land consisted of raising livestock and row cropping, Rayburn realized that hard work bred success. In the span of his lifetime, Rayburn worked tirelessly to pour back into his family land and to continue growing the legacy of the Paulk name. From 40 acres, Rayburn expanded to 1100 acres of continuously connected land. While the majority of the acreage comprised Loblolly pines and centuries old hardwood, he recognized a unique opportunity while walking through his land and encountering multiple century-old pecan trees already existing amongst his hardwoods. In 1983, Rayburn made the pivotal decision to plant a large swath of pecan trees amongst the terraces that formerly housed row crops. While some livestock were maintained on the land, Rayburn began to internalize his focus. Pecan production slowly took its place as the primary product of our farm, and by the time of his demise in 2016, it was the sole focus of Heritage Farms.

Fourth generation and daughter of Rayburn Paulk, Rachel Hatcher took her place at the helm in 2013. While she had spent her entire life working alongside her father on the farm, he determined that it would be prudent for her to take ownership of Heritage Farms prior to inheritance. These years with her father’s support proved vital and allowed Rachel to transform Heritage from “small pecan producer” to “true pecan farmer”. She has worked tirelessly alongside her husband, Donald, and their children to continuously grow and cultivate an exceptional harvest each season. Through countless hours of research, grower meetings, extension outreach and field research, the Hatchers have begun to dial in the recipe to the softest, most-buttery pecans in Florida.

Fifth generation, Reid Hatcher, is following closely in his mother’s shoes. Working alongside her from the time he could handpick limbs from the field, Reid has aided his mother and father in the continued development of Heritage Farms. After a brief stint of selling retail pecans in 2023, the Hatchers realized that the desire to access their pecans in the local community was extreme. With 1,500lbs selling out in a few short weeks, the Hatchers endeavored to commit to another pivot for the family land. New regenerative farming techniques have been instituted to pour into the family land, increasing the production while also simultaneously increasing the health of the surrounding land and trees. On the backside of the physical labor, Reid has taken the helm within the technological sector. He has worked tirelessly to aid his mother in setting up a retail space that is available to the greater United States to effectively cut out the middle man and provide the highest quality pecans to any and all who want them.

This is our story, and we’re glad you are here.