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Kilton Farms auction nets more than $24 million

January 21 was the culmination of a long process that brought 3,912 acres of a 7,000-acre estate to auction. Kilton Farms, Inc. was one of the largest farms in central Illinois, acquired over seven decades – its name is derived from William Darrell Kilton of Litchfield.

Kilton was well known in the community. He taught agriculture classes at Morrisonville High School until 1942 and acquired a large land estate over the years. His wife, Dorothy Zimmerman, was the sole heir and she died June 9, 2008.

The large parcel of land, which sold at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Ill., was divided up during the day’s auction.
The sale ended bringing a whopping $24,500,397.

The Springfield Journal Register reported: “The largest single bid was for $15.2 million for 2,462 acres, or $6,200 an acre. Ten smaller purchases accounted for the rest of the sale price.”
Auction Manager Kent Aumann said 75 percent of the land was purchased by locals. He was quoted as saying, “A group of tenants and local farmers bid together and actually beat out an investment fund.”

Kurt Aumann, who headed up the sale, said at the end of the day, “This was a fantastic auction. It exceeded the seller’s expectations and is a good indication of the market.”

Forty-three tracts sold for an average of $5,985.54 per acre. With a big board that looked a lot like a horse race, a big group of bidders and a roped-off section of spectators, the auction had a game day atmosphere – only the players had high stakes. “It reminded me of a football game,” one spectator shared. “It was an excellent way to sell a lot of acres.”

The technique used to sell the seven square miles across Macoupin and Mont-gomery counties was called the multi-parcel method. Several tracts were contiguous and most had high quality soil.
The parcels were located in four townships: Shaws Point, Honey Point and Harvel townships. Soil types included Vir-den, Herrick, Kellar, Herrick-Biddle-Piasa, Cowden-Piasa and Virden-Fosterburg.
The multi-parcel method basically began with bidders around 10 a.m. gathering and making offers on single tracts; then, bidders were allowed to create any combination of the tracts they desired. Bidders were required to pay earnest money per tract on Jan. 21 and were notified that there was a 4 percent buyer’s premium that would be added to the total of the purchase price.

The auction ended just before 5 p.m., making this a full day for the 219 bidders registered. Aumann’s estimated that approximately 1,000 people came to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to watch the sale, which became a media event. Fred Jessup of United Community Bank was one of those spectators.

He grew up on a farm just outside of Divernon, Ill., and was pretty close on his guess of what this land would bring. “I predicted around $5,500 (per acre),” he said before the sale was ended. “It is going to bring more than that now. Money is fairly cheap,” he said, referring to low interest rates.

Don Wall, also an employee of United Community Bank and a part-time farmer, was almost right on the money with his prediction: “I thought it would bring around $6,000 an acre.”

Bidders were mainly from the Midwest. “People came from Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois,” Jane Aumann said. “We had inquiries from all across the county.”

Aumann shared that the registered bidders represented an array of land groups, individuals, investment groups and real estate investors. For more details on the auction, log onto www.aumannauctions.com

3/4/2009