The packing house, land and equipment formerly used in the produce operations for Plantation Sweets sold this week for $6.1 million in two bank-ordered auctions.  These assets were a major part of one of the larger growing and packing operations for Vidalia onions and sweet potatoes in the state of Georgia.

These assets were sold via two public auctions that were managed by Murray Wise Associates LLC in cooperation with Crosby & Associates, Woltz & Associates and Weeks Auction Company.  The auctions were a major success, with over 100 people in attendance over the two days. 

Ken Nofziger with Murray Wise Associates, said, "We had great crowds with strong interest from local and national operators as well as institutional investors that led to the success of these auctions."

The land and packing house auction that took place on Wednesday saw many local farmers bidding on individual tracts before an investment fund and several large operators began bidding back and forth on the whole property. Shuman Produce Inc. ended up with the high bid of $5.5 million on 620+/- acres of farmland, the 95,000 square foot packing shed, and the packing shed equipment.

"There has been a scarcity of large tracts of land available in this area recently and when the opportunity arose for individuals in this community to add to their operation they took it," noted Ben Crosby, of Crosby & Associates. 

Paul Erickson, CEO of Conterra Asset Management, representing the real estate lender stated, "We could not be more pleased with the results generated by Murray Wise Associates and the entire auction team.  We feel confident that we captured the top of the market based on the quality and quantity of the bidders that participated in the auctions."