A large tract of land located just west of Downs, Ill., sold for $12,500 an acre last week, indicating there is solid investor demand for the right kind of properties. The farm consisted of 293 acres in total, which is somewhat of a large offering considering the size of the potential check needed to purchase the ground. It was basically all tillable. It was offered in four tracts ranging in size from 48 acres to 85 acres. The soil Productivity Indexes (PIs) on each of the four tracts ranged from 137.6 to 142.5 using the state’s Bulletin 811 measure with 147 the maximum rating.
The ground sold in two packages. The first was 245 acres consisting of three tracts of 79 acres, 81 acres and 85 acres. These had PIs of 137.6, 140.6 and 142.5, respectively and an average PI of 140.3. More importantly, they were contiguous, making for one solid rectangular block of all tillable easy-to-farm land. An cash investor bought the ground.
The fourth tract consisting of 48 acres across the road carried a PI of 138.5. A cash investor also purchased this piece for $10,800 an acre. The smaller size of the tract along with the lower PI rating in a county noted for high PI ratings may have contributed to the lower selling price. In addition, all four tracts were sold subject to a cash-share lease that expires the end of February 2015.
Kevin Meiss of Soy Capital Ag Services, Bloomington, Ill., handled the auction.
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