The word “bankruptcy” popped up when I was looking for land auction results for this month’s column. I had read reports that financial distress land sales were occurring, but this was the first that used “bankruptcy” in the auction sale bill.

Bankruptcy estate sale

More than 5,900 acres in Hand and Ziebach counties of South Dakota involved in a bankruptcy estate sale sold in late June in nearly a dozen tracts for prices ranging from $400 to $3,050 per acre.

All but about 200 acres of the property was tillable. The cropland in Hand County sold for $1,750 to $2,500 per acre. Two tracts with houses, grain storage, machine sheds and other farm buildings sold for $2,600 and $3,050 per acre, respectively. Most of the cropland in Hand County has soil productivity ratings in the ’60s and ’70s.

The unimproved land in Ziebach County has soil productivity ratings from the mid-40s to the mid-60s. It sold in several tracts for $400 to $520 per acre.

You can see the complete auction results report online. — Auction managed and conducted by Burlage Peterson Auctioneers and Realtors, LLC, Brookings, S.D. Phone: 605-692-7102. burlagepeterson.com.

Premier pasture sells

About 480 contiguous acres that the sale bill described as “premier pasture” in Roberts County west of Sisseton, S.D., sold for $1,575 per acre at a recent auction. A gravel county road splits the two pastures, providing good access to both. The pastures have strong perimeter fences, four wells, wetlands that hold water, abundant grass and virgin sod. — Auction conducted and managed by United Country — Advantage Land Co., Brookings, S.D. Phone: 605-692-2525. advantagelandco.com.

Fertile farmland, rolling meadows

Fertile farmland and rolling meadows that make up the White Butte Ranch in Perkins County, S.D. sold in five tracts to four buyers for an average of $955 per acre in an Aug. 21 auction. The property consists of 580 tillable acres and 1,130 acres of grass.  

The property includes a 1,288 square foot ranch style home with an attached garage, a 40×80-foot machine shed, a 40-by-90-foot pole barn with a vet room, 5,600 bushels of grain storage, corrals and other outbuildings. The ranch has six wells, four reservoirs and rural water. The grass production on the ranch is exceptional and the tillable acreage is comprised of highly productive mostly Cl, II and III soils, according to the sale bill. The ranch has nearly two miles of frontage on U.S. Highway 12 and is 5.5 miles from Lemmon, S.D., and 19 miles from Hettinger, N.D. — Auction managed and conducted by Hewitt Land Co., Piedmont, S.D. Phone: 605-791-2300. hewittlandcompany.com.

Land with buildings

Approximately 152 acres in Brookings County sold Aug. 15 in two tracks for $8,925 and $2,025 per acre respectively. The higher priced track includes a 42-by-127-foot Morton building with an attached finished 18-by-52-foot lean to. The building has front and rear overhead doors, electricity and a concrete floor in the lean to.

The second tract is 87 acres and is used for pasture or hay. The tract offers a good opportunity for both pasture grazing land or a hunting recreational investment property, the sale bill said. — Auction managed and conducted by Burlage Peterson Auctioneers and Realtor, Brookings, S.D. Phone: 605-692-7102. burlagepeterson.com.