Land left behind by an Iowa farmer was auctioned for several millions of dollars.
Radio Iowa reported that on Saturday, February 15, 2014 hundreds of people came out to an auction for 858 acres of land left by Edwin “Bud” Skalla. The Shelby County farmer donated his land to 13 western Iowa Catholic Churches when he died at age 92.
There were 400 bidders at 700 spectators at Saturday’s auction. The largest amount paid per-acre of land was $12,300. Personal items that were auctioned totaled $17,000. The majority of the land from Skalla’s estate was auctioned for $7.9 million.
There is nearly 300 more acres of land that was given to a church in Portsmouth that was not part of the auction.