“ Pecan oil has more health benefits than any other oil, and 70 % of the weight of a good pecan is the oil.” – Dick Hoffman
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 29
This September marks 64 years since Dick Hoffman and his wife Jean bought 80 acres of pecan farm and began working with pecan trees as a hobby, while Hoffman worked 25 years as a firefighter for the Stillwater Fire Department.
said.“ We all enjoy it.”
This September marks 64 years since Dick Hoffman and his wife Jean bought 80 acres of pecan farm and began working with pecan trees as a hobby, while Hoffman worked 25 years as a firefighter for the Stillwater Fire Department. Hoffman and his brother began working and grafting with the native pecan trees on the property.
“ I started out selling pecans out of my garage in brown paper bags, slowly started getting more business,” he said.“ We decided to retail our pecans, so we bought a cracking machine.”
Hoffman’ s three sons, Chris, Glenn and Donny, who are retired or close to retiring, help him run the business, while Shane manages the budget and social media as he operates his own full-time construction business.
Pecan trees start coming out of dormancy around the beginning of April, so the Hoffman family spends May grafting the trees, and the pecans are harvested in October. Hoffman said all hands are on deck with the family in November and December, which is a pivotal timeframe for pecan production, because pecans need to be cracked, packaged and placed into cold storage in a timely manner to maintain their flavor.
“ Pecan oil has more health benefits than any other oil, and 70 % of the weight of a good pecan is the oil,” Hoffman said.“ If you don’ t put them in cold storage fast enough, they lose their oil content.”
Hoffman partners with manufacturers across the country and overseas, sharing grafting shaft pieces with some producers and buying pecans from others. They also process pecans for other pecan farmers in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas with their 500 pecans-per-minute and 1,200-pecans-per-minute nut-cracking machines.
“ We are popular with producers who can’ t crack and shell their own because we turn them over quickly,” Shane Hoffman said.
The farm store sells everything from raw
“ Pecan oil has more health benefits than any other oil, and 70 % of the weight of a good pecan is the oil.” – Dick Hoffman
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 29