The majority of the land from the estate of a bachelor farmer in western Iowa was auctioned off for $7.9 million. The 858 acre land auction of Edwin Bud Skalla of rural Shelby County was held on Saturday. The parcels were separated in five tracts between Shelby and Harrison County.
The auction had 400 bidders and 700 spectators. The top price per acre of land was $12,300. In addition to the land, personal items totaled $17,000. The 92-year-old Skalla bequeathed the land to thirteen western Iowa Catholic Churches.
Another 292 acre tract of land that was given to St. Mary Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Portsmouth was not part of the weekend land auction.
(Reporting by Joel McCall, KNOD, Harlan)