Farmland Auction: Bureau County, Illinois, Sale Averages $9,957 Per Acre

For the first time in three generations, the Martin land near Wyanet, Illinois, was available for purchase. Buyers were ready. 

At auction September 26 was 294.7 acres of high-quality Bureau County, Illinois, farmland, in a package of four 80s, laying side by side. The farms are about 6 miles west of Princeton, just north of U.S. Interstate 80.

The four tracts totaled 68.9 acres; 72.5 acres; 77.9 acres and 75.4 acres, respectively. The Productivity Index on these farms ranged from 133.4 to 135.8 (based on a scale to 140). Soil types included mostly Harpster, Lisbon, and Saybrook. (Also for sale were two farmsteads and a pond site.)

Source: Rick Rediger Auction Bureau County, Illinois Price Per acre Tract 1 75.4 acres $10,000 Tract 2  77.9 acres $9,750 Tract 3 72.5 acres $9,950 Tract 4 Homestead $133,000 total Tract 5 68.9 acres $10,150 Tract 6 Homestead $117,000 total Tract 7 Recreation/pond $56,000 total Average 294.7 acres farmland $9,956.68

These farms had been in the same family for three generations, so prospective buyers were eager to pay top dollar, says auctioneer Rick Rediger. He didn’t expect it to be this good. The farmland sold for an average price of $9,957 per acre, with a total of $2.934 million. 

“It is crazy right now,” he says. 

By the end of the sale, the 75.4-acre patch sold to an investor; the 72.5- and 77.9-acre fields sold to a neighboring farmer and the 68.9-acre farm sold to another neighboring farmer. 

Farmland is a hot commodity, he adds. Earlier this month, the auctioneer had two sales, each of which averaged more than $10,000 per acre. They had slightly better PI scores. He reckons that because the September 26 sale had not changed hands in three generations, it fetched a little higher price. 

“A lot of guys dreamed of getting the whole thing,” Rediger says. 

Sale Results 

• Tract 1: 75.4 acres, with 75.11 acres tillable. Soil types include Harpster and Lisbon, with a 133.4 Productivity Index (on a scale to 140). It sold for $754,000 ($10,000 per acre). 
• Tract 2: 77.9 acres, with 77.65 tillable and a 135.8 PI with Harpster and Lisbon soils. It sold for $759,525 ($9,750 per acre). 
• Tract 3: 72.5 acres (71.7 acres tillable) with mostly Saybrook and Lisbon soils and a 134.6 PI. It sold for $721,375 ($9,950 per acre).
• Tract 4: 5.58 acres of farmstead with a two-story farm house, and outbuildings include a pole shed, machine shed with concrete, and three grain bins totaling 32,000 bushels of storage. It sold for $133,000. 
• Tract 5: 68.9 surveyed acres, with 67.86 tillable featuring mostly Saybrook and Lisbon soils with a 133.8 PI. It sold for $699,335 ($10,150 per acre). 
• Tract 6: Homestead with a 1,900-square-foot trilevel home, garage/shed and machine shed. It brought $117,000.
• Tract 7: 5.2 acres with a 2.2-acre pond stocked with fish, plus 3 acres of native grass/woods. It brought $56,000.