Worrell Land Services to auction 279 acres of Morgan County farmland

Four tracts totaling 279.06 acres of Morgan County farmland will go to auction west of Jacksonville, giving local operators a chance to compete for ground that seldom reaches the open market.

Worrell Land Services will hold the live and online sale Monday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m. at Twisted Tree Music & Event Hall, 1061 E. Morton Ave. The property will be sold as Buyer’s Choice, a format that lets the high bidder per acre choose the tract or tracts first. All four tracts are tied to a 50/50 crop-share lease for 2026, meaning a winning buyer will reimburse the current owners for half of the crop expenses, then step into the landlord role for the rest of the season and receive half of the grain.

The strongest land in the offering is Tract 1, an 80.0-acre parcel that is 100% tillable and sits about 1.5 miles west of Jacksonville in Section 22 of Markham Township. It carries an 80.23-acre USDA tillable figure, a Productivity Index of 142.2 and a four-year yield average of 254 bushels of corn and 74 bushels of soybeans. Its primary soils are Sable and Ipava, two of the better names a row-crop buyer can hear in this part of the county, and the 2024 real estate tax bill was $4,349.86.

Tract 2 will appeal to a different kind of buyer. The 77.44-acre tract is about 84% income-producing, with 56.22 tillable acres, a 132.9 Productivity Index and 9.10 acres enrolled in CRP that pay $1,784 a year through 2030. It also includes two 14,000-bushel grain bins and wooded creek-bottom recreational ground, a mix that could attract a producer who wants storage, steady government-program income and a few acres of non-row-crop value. The parcel is about 2.5 miles west of Jacksonville with access from Markham Road and Liberty Road.

The sale lands at a time when Morgan County farmland remains tightly held. The county had 753 farms and 283,082 acres in farms in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, with crops making up 94% of the $254.678 million in farm products sold. County ag reports estimate 2,295 ag-related jobs, $167 million in labor income and $327.4 million in total value added from ag industries, underscoring how a premium land sale can ripple beyond one buyer and one seller.

Local land values are also moving under a stricter assessment framework. The county’s 2025 farmland assessment guidance puts the median soil productivity index at 111 and the assessment increase at $51.56 per acre. Against that backdrop, a 142.2 PI tract and a 132.9 PI tract could draw strong interest from expanding operators, but they also raise the question of how many neighboring farmers can keep paying up as family-sized tracts become harder to find.

Worrell Land Services, based on West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville, has worked in rural real estate and farm management since 1995. Allan Worrell started the business after 18 years as a farm manager for local banks, and Luke Worrell now serves as owner and managing broker.