Diebold Orchards to auction off property Aug. 20; store near Benton will remain open

KELSO — The Diebold family plans to auction off its 700-acre orchard on Aug. 20.

David Diebold, co-owner of the business off U.S. 61 in Kelso, cited family issues for the closing of the orchard.

"All the shareholders don't have enough money to buy each other out," Diebold explained. "So we are holding the auction so those who want to buy the assets of the company can do so and the rest of the land can be sold to the public."

Diebold explained the auction is a reorganization of the land. He said that only 10 percent of the land is suitable for the orchard industry. Therefore, during the auction the Diebold family - which includes David and his brother, Joseph - plans to purchase that land and hopes the other 630 acres is sold to people outside of the company.

The Diebold store along Interstate 55 just outside Benton will remain open.

At 10 a.m. on Aug. 20, inside the Knights of Columbus Hall at 28745 Highway 61 in Scott City, the property will be sold in 15 tracts. After purchasing the land, buyers will have an option of splitting their purchased land or combining it with other tracts for a larger acreage, according to the Summer 2008 edition of Midwest Farm and Ranch magazine. The property will not be auctioned off to another orchard business, Diebold emphasized.

The available tracts are diverse in size and landscape.

Sizes of the tracts range from eight acres to 170 acres. The land features rolling hills, ponds stocked with fish and fields with a variety of flowers.

bblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137