A ranch covering 93,280 acres in southeastern Montana, assembled by Forrest Mars, former co-president of the giant Mars candy company, sold for $64.8 million to Heal Holdings, of Florida, said Drovers. Mars, who died in July 2016, built up the ranch over the last 15 years of his life.
In an obituary, the New York Times said Mars, ordinarily reclusive, “made news a decade ago when he opposed the development of coal and gas fields on his Montana ranch by companies that held drilling leases because it would imperil the property’s water supply.”
The Diamond Cross Ranch, 95 miles southeast of Billings, Mont., included 1,700 acres of irrigated and dry cropland and 91,555 acres of range. The ranch “winters 1,800 mature cows and 200 bred heifers, while the grazing resources were managed using rotational grazing,” said Drovers. One operation on the ranch offered guided hunting and fishing trips.