A farm auction scheduled near Frankfort is thought to be one of the largest in the state in the past couple of years.

Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co. Inc. of Columbia City plans to auction 1,222 acres from the estate of Ron Unger, a farmer who started from scratch and built the operation to raise thousand of hogs. The property will be auctioned in 20 tracts on Sept. 11.

Purdue University said this month that its June survey of farmland prices shows the average price for prime farmland rose 13.5 percent in the last year, to $5,003 an acre.

Since June 2006, the price has shot up partly due to the rising prices of corn and soybeans.