Marseilles, IL

An efficient, well-balanced row-crop farm in Grand Rapids Township (T28), one of the most purely agricultural townships in one of the most productive corn-growing counties in the United States. Grand Rapids Township covers 35.6 square miles with a population of under 300 - this is farm country, not a neighborhood in waiting. Of the 80.2 total acres, 74 are tillable, carrying a Productivity Index of 121.2 across a soil profile led by Bryce, Swygert, Rutland, Mokena, and Proctor. For the operator, this one simply works. The tract is the West Half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 3-32-4 - a clean half-quarter running a quarter mile wide by a half mile deep, with straight boundaries and no odd corners to nurse. Access on two sides means equipment moves in and out cleanly and headlands stay productive. The contour is gently rolling - enough relief to shed water and surface-drain naturally, without the slope penalty or erosion concerns that come with rougher ground. Drainage is the story here, and it's a good one. The Bryce and Swygert soils are the heavy, high-clay prairie soils that produce big yields once water is managed, and Proctor brings a well-drained, high-quality outwash component to the mix. The farm already drains well, but a creek runs east to west along the back of the property, providing an established gravity outlet on-site. That removes the two biggest obstacles to any tile project - securing an outlet and the cost to reach it - and makes systematic tile the highest-return improvement available on a farm of this soil type. A buyer can put capital to work here and see it in the yield monitor. Location adds real dollars per bushel. FS Grain, LLC sits just 7 miles from the property - a short haul that keeps trucks turning and the combine running through the narrow windows that decide a harvest. LaSalle County ranks year in and year out among the top six counties in the nation for total corn production, and the Illinois Valley offers unusually deep demand beyond the local elevator: Marquis Energy's Hennepin complex - the state's largest dry-mill ethanol plant - consumes almost half of all corn within a 65-mile radius, with an added soybean crush and river loading facility expanding market options for growers in the region. Interstate 80 and Illinois River barge access at Marseilles are both close at hand. This is a real market, not a thin one. The farm is open for the 2027 crop year. No inherited tenant, no waiting out a lease - the buyer farms it himself or selects his own operator and starts fresh. The balance of the farm along the creek corridor is enrolled in CRP through 2035 with annual revenue of $165 on ground that was never going to raise a crop anyway. Income with no inputs, no weather risk, and no machinery hours against it, and the enrolled acres hold a natural buffer along the waterway. Note that the 74 tillable acres are exclusive of the CRP ground, so the row-crop base and the CRP revenue stack rather than overlap. A note on taxes: the prior year's bill covered a home and a small acreage that have since been split off from the farm. A new assessment is being established on the bare agricultural land, so the historical figure does not reflect what a buyer will carry. Illinois assesses farmland on agricultural use value rather than market value, and the current figure will be provided as soon as it is set. Whether you're an operator looking to add efficient acres close to home or an investor after quality Illinois tillable ground with a clear improvement path and income already in place, this farm deserves a look.