A story of a man and his family
In the foothills of the Ozarks in Arkansas, William Tackett worked his first job at age six for a penny a day. Seventy five years later, he is still driven by a hard work ethic and a strong will to succeed. As a child, going fishing with his dad was a favorite pastime. At that time, he had no idea it would become a passion for life.

He is the patriarch of his family-owned and operated business. By example, he has taught his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren the rewards of integrity, frugality, determination and a life based on Christian principles.


Tackett Fish Farms Timeline
The Tackett Fish Farms and Heartland Catfish alliance is one of the most successful of vertically integrated agricultural entities... from selective breeding to hatching fry to fingerling production to food processing.

1964 - William Tackett, his wife Marue and their five children moved from Jonesboro, Arkansas to Belzoni, Mississippi. Together, the family farmed rice, soybeans and cotton.

1968 - William built his first catfish pond in Humphreys County.

1974 - William, Marue and son, Jim relocated to Schlater, Mississippi to continue row crop farming with 880 acres.

1975 - Son-in-law, Joe Walker joined the family farming operation.

1978 - The trio built 12 catfish ponds on 240 acres.

1979 - The venture's first crop of farm-raised, grain-fed catfish was harvested and sold to Con Agra Processing Plant. They also farmed 450 acres of rice and 700 acres of soybeans.

1981 - The catfish farm had grown to 30 food fish ponds and 10 fingerling ponds.

1983 - A partnership, Tackett Fish Farms, was formed between William Tackett, his son, Jim Tackett and son-in-law, Joe Walker.

1984 - Brooder fish were purchased and a hatchery was built. Several million fingerlings were produced that year.

1989 - William Tackett was named Outstanding Farmer by Catfish Farmers of America. The partnership's farm, at this time, included 203 catfish ponds covering 3,700 acres. Other farming interests included over 3,500 acres of traditional farm crop land.

1995 - The farming family decided to take catfish production one step further by opening a state-of-the-art facility...Heartland Catfish Processing Plant in Itta Bena, Mississippi. This decision created one of the most complete and productive catfish operations in the world.

1997 - Tackett Fish Farms' total land holdings grew to over 15,000 acres, including 10,000 of traditional cropland and 5,000 acres of catfish ponds producing over 20,000,000 pounds of catfish. In only its second year of operation, Heartland Catfish processed over 18,000,000 pounds of catfish and received a Level One Rating from the United States Department of Commerce Voluntary HACCP Program, a recognition we can claim as the only catfish processing plant to ever receive.

2000 - William Tackett was awarded the Lancaster/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year. Heartland Catfish experienced a substantial expansion ___________________.

2004 - Tackett Fish Farms is in a continual state of growth, presently encompassing over 8,300 acres of catfish ponds, selling over 31,000,000 pounds of food fish and 19,000,000 head of fingerling. Additional holdings include over 11,000 acres of additional land suited for farming rice, soybeans and corn. Heartland Catfish sold over 33,000,000 pounds of processed catfish.