Missouri And Illinois Farmland For Sale At Auction – Gordon Cohen Trust Foundation – Historic Kaskaskia Island

Preview Day: Sunday, October 25th, 9 AM to 11 AM.

Bidding Ends: Wednesday, November 18th at 10 AM.

Gordon Cohen Trust Foundation - 1,020.3± acres offered in 5 Tracts

Kaskaskia Island is the only piece of Illinois that sits west of the Mississippi River, and this 1,020.3± acre farm runs along its western edge. The French founded Kaskaskia in 1703. George Rogers Clark took it for the Americans in 1778, and it served as Illinois' first state capital from 1818 to 1820. Floods starting in 1844, and the great cutoff of 1881, pushed the Mississippi east of the old town and made the island. In 1970 the U.S. Supreme Court settled for good that this ground belongs to Illinois. Very little of it ever changes hands. Families here hold land for generations, and this farm is no exception.

The Cohen family has held parts of this ground for more than 150 years. They farmed it before the Mississippi changed course and cut Kaskaskia off from the Illinois mainland. The legal description reaches back to the island's beginnings: Lots A, B and C of Island No. 15, a river island first platted by the General Land Office in the 1830s, together with part of U.S. Surveys 224 and 225, Claim 703, which date to the original French claims at Kaskaskia. The Gordon Cohen Farm Trust Foundation now offers the farm for sale for the first time in generations.

The farm is 742± acres in Randolph County, Illinois, and 278.3± acres in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. Idlewild Slough, the state line, divides the two. Mitchell Slough bounds the farm on the north, and the public levee runs along its south and east sides. It lies west of Bond Road and the village of Kaskaskia, with a gravel lane off Bond Road leading onto the property. The farm is protected by Ste. Genevieve Levee System No. 2. About 94 percent of it is tillable: roughly 886 acres of levee-protected cropland. The remaining 67 acres are timber and waste, mostly along the east edge.

This is flat, workable river-bottom ground. The soils are predominantly Darwin and Wabash silty clays, with Haynie and Nameoki on the sand ridges in the northeast corner. A few low pockets in the central and southern fields hold water in wet years. There are no buildings and no homesite; this is a straight farming operation.

The cropland is under a long-term cash lease through the 2031 crop year. It pays $145.20 per crop acre for 2026 through 2028, or roughly $138,000 a year gross on about 953 crop acres. Rent for 2029 through 2031 will be renegotiated before January 1, 2029, with any increase capped at 10 percent. That gives a buyer six crop years of steady income on a farm this size.

Farms on Kaskaskia Island rarely come to market, and a contiguous block of more than a thousand acres with this history may not come around again.

For more information, call or text Jason Wallingford at (314) 882-6971 or Jake Brown at (314) 602-1116.

Tract 1: 278± Acres
• Approximately 270 acres of productive cropland
• Soils consisting mostly of Wabash silty clay 0-2
• NCCPI rating shows 48
• 97% Tillable
• Tenant farmers (Breig, Doza, & Brown) through 2031

Tract 2: 128± Acres
• Approximately 123 acres of productive cropland
• Soils consisting mostly of Darwin silty clay 0-2 and Haynie silt loam 2-5
• NCCPI rating shows 35
• 96% Tillable
• Tenant farmers (Doza & Brown) through 2031

Tract 3: 67± Acres
• Approximately 53 acres of productive cropland
• Soils consisting mostly of Darwin silty clay 0-2 and Haynie silt loam 2-5
• NCCPI rating shows 46
• 79% Tillable
• Tenant farmers (Brown) through 2031

Tract 4: 328± Acres
• Approximately 314 acres of productive cropland
• Soils consisting mostly of Darwin silty clay 0-2 and Haynie silt loam 2-5
• NCCPI rating shows 35
• 96% Tillable
• Tenant farmers (Breig & Doza) through 2031

Tract 5: 246± Acres
• Approximately 218 acres of productive cropland
• Soils consisting mostly of Darwin silty clay 0-2, Nameoki silty clay 0-2, and Haynie silt loam 2-5
• NCCPI rating shows 46
• 88% Tillable
• Tenant farmers (Brown & Doza) through 2031

Auction Terms & Conditions

1. PROCEDURE: Bidding ends Wednesday, November 18, 2026, at 10:00 AM, with a soft close, meaning that a bid in the final minute will extend bidding by 5 minutes on each tract.

2. BUYERS PREMIUM: 5% Buyer’s Premium will be added to the final bid price to arrive at the contract sales price.

3. ACCEPTANCE OF BID PRICES: Winning bidder will enter into a Contract to Purchase immediately upon being declared the Successful Bidder by the Auctioneer. Upon the close of the auction, the winning bidder will be forwarded via email a Contract to Purchase. Trophy Properties and Auction must receive a signed copy of the contract on or before 12:00 NOON, Thursday, November 19, 2026 (hand delivered, faxed, electronic signature or scanned and emailed). The Seller reserves the right to reject any and all bids. Once accepted, this agreement shall be binding on the parties and their successors and assigns. This agreement is NOT subject to financing, inspections, or other contingencies or delays the closing for such reason.

4. DOWN PAYMENT: 10% of the contract purchase price will be due upon acceptance of the Sales Contract. Business or Personal Checks or Wire Transfer are accepted.

5. BIDDING: Once submitted, a bid cannot be retracted.

6. CLOSING: Closing shall be on or before 3:00 PM., Thursday, December 17, 2026.

7. POSSESSION: Possession will be given at closing, subject to the remaining rights of the current tenant if any.

8. TITLE: Seller shall furnish the buyer(s) at Seller’s expense an Owner’s Policy of Title Insurance in the amount of the purchase price and agrees to provide and execute a proper deed conveying merchantable title to the real estate to the buyer(s).

9. SURVEY: AT SELLERS OPTION, the Seller shall provide a new survey where there is no existing legal description to convey title.

10. REAL ESTATE TAXES: The 2025 and 2026 Real Estate taxes to be paid for by the Sellers.

11. Under no circumstances shall Bidder have any kind of claim against Trophy Properties and Auction, or anyone else if the Internet service fails to work correctly before or during the auction.

The information is believed to be accurate; however, no liability for its accuracy, errors or omissions is assumed. All lines are drawn on maps, photographs, etc. are approximate. Buyers should verify the information to their satisfaction. There are no expressed or implied warranties pertaining to this property. Both real estate (including all improvements, if any) is being sold As Is, Where Is with NO warranties expressed or implied. Please make all inspections and have financing arranged prior to the end of bidding. All announcements made day of sale take precedence over prior advertising either written or oral. This property is subject to prior sale.