If you want to hedge your bets against inflation, all you have to do is buy bitcoin, gold, or 100 acres of hayfields in Nebraska.

The amount of farmland bought by investment firms has jumped 231% from 2008 to the middle of last year, according to the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries. Investors owned $16.6 billion worth of farmland at the end of 2023, up $9.2 billion from 2020.

• Aside from being relatively unaffected by inflation, farmland is a solid investment: The world will need to produce 60% more food by 2050, according to UN estimates.
• The value of farmland increased from $2,700 per acre in 2010 to $5,460 in 2023, according to the USDA.

As the average age of farmers goes up, experts worry it’ll be harder for the industry to attract young people to the field (literally), especially now that they’re competing with deep-pocketed investors.

Bipartisan concern over who owns the strawberry patch

US politicians are mad about investors buying up farmland, but they are even madder at the foreign investors doing it. Members of Congress and at least 36 state lawmakers have introduced bills over the last year that would limit or ban non-US citizens or people from certain countries (mostly Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea) from buying farmland.

• Chinese billionaire Chen Tianqiao is the second-biggest foreign owner of US land—though less than 1% of foreign-owned land in the US is owned by Chinese interests, per the USDA.
• Canadian investors take the cake, owning 31% of foreign-held US land, which comes out to just under 1% of total US agricultural land.

Looking ahead…industry experts estimate that investment firms still only control about 1% to 3% of the market. But the speed at which these groups are snapping up land—and driving up prices—is what has lawmakers nervous, and that’s why restrictions could be part of a farm bill that’s expected to pass at some point in the next year.—MM

Imagine a world where your investment works as hard as robots—where you can set it and forget it while earning 10% interest.

You have that opportunity today, thanks to Knightscope.

Knightscope is a leading developer of autonomous security robots, a booming $119b market. They grew net revenue to $9m+ last year by scaling their reach across the country. Now, they’re seeking investors to help them meet the growing demand for their innovative, AI-powered security robots.

Knightscope is offering bonds that pay you 10% cash interest on your investment every year for five years.

But don’t wait. This deal ends on March 14. Start earning 10% interest today.

Walmart bought TV-maker Vizio for $2.3 billion. If you’re wondering why the store where you buy diapers and dog food would acquire a company that makes television sets, it’s to better compete with Amazon’s booming advertising business. The deal gives Walmart the ability to sell ads through streaming services on Vizio TVs, in addition to in physical stores and on its website. Walmart thinks its treasure trove of shopper data will be especially appealing to advertisers as it further transforms from a big-box retailer into a media company. It has long been rumored to be considering launching its own streaming TV service, as Amazon has done.

The FBI helped take down the world’s most infamous cybercriminal group. An international operation led by the FBI and the UK’s National Crime Agency dealt a major blow to the ransomware gang LockBit, arresting two people in the US and two others in Poland and Ukraine, while charging two more Russian nationals. LockBit has caused billions of dollars in damages by forcing its targets—many of them major companies—to pay ransoms to decrypt malicious software. The law enforcement agencies also seized LockBit websites on the dark web and obtained keys that will help victims decrypt their computers. “We have hacked the hackers,” NCA Director General Graeme Biggar told reporters.

JPMorgan Chase is cashing in on Messi mania in Miami. The bank announced it inked a two-year deal for the naming rights to Inter Miami FC’s stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The deal gives JPMorgan its first stadium in pro soccer, following the Chase Center for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and Chase Field for MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Lionel Messi signed a two-and-a-half-year, $150 million contract with Inter Miami last year, massively inflating the team’s sponsorship revenue and total valuation. It’s unclear if JPMorgan will remain the naming sponsor when Inter Miami moves to a new venue in 2025.

John Oliver, who hosts the Emmy-award-winning show Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, said on Monday that HBO decided to stop uploading clips from new Sunday night episodes to YouTube the next day, pushing the segment drops to Thursdays instead.

Why? HBO hopes that if you have to choose between waiting a few days to watch Oliver offer Clarence Thomas a $2.4 million motorcoach to resign or shelling out $9.99 a month for a Max plan to see it immediately, you’ll go with the Max plan: A spokesperson acknowledged the YouTube delay aims to boost subscribers on the streaming platform.

Still, TV shows need YouTube. Last Week Tonight gets a lot more eyeballs when it drops clips on YT, and other shows gain from the site’s virality, too: A clip from Jon Stewart’s return to hosting The Daily Show…last week has over 9 million views on YouTube.

YouTube has also benefited from TV. The SNL music video “Lazy Sunday,” released on YouTube when the platform was just five months old in 2005, is credited with helping to fuel its rise.

But in the streaming era, they’re fierce competitors. When Last Week Tonight first premiered in 2014, you couldn’t watch it on Max because Max didn’t exist. Now that you can, HBO is concerned that quickly posting clips of the show on YouTube—one of its biggest competitors and the No. 1 streaming platform—was stifling subscriber growth.—CC

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“Played Teddy on Good Luck Charlie” is just one line in overachiever Bridgit Mendler’s resume. The Disney darling and certified-platinum singer announced earlier this week that her space startup raised $6.3 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz and other backers.

Cosmic career

Mendler is now the CEO of Northwood Space, which she says is “building a data highway between earth and space.” The startup wants to mass-produce ground stations (the circular antennas that communicate with satellites) to make it easier for space companies to rent them, she told CNBC.

But judging by her stacked LinkedIn, the former immortal vampire girl from Wizards of Waverly Place has long been reaching for the stars.

• Mendler is currently in the last year of a law degree at Harvard, where she co-led the Harvard Space Law Society—while pursuing an interdisciplinary Ph.D. from MIT.
• She previously worked at the division of the Federal Communications Commission that deals with satellites.

Mendler co-founded Northwood Space with her engineer husband, Griffin Cleverly, and software whiz Shaurya Luthra. The project began when the married couple alleviated pandemic boredom by building antennas “out of random crap” from Home Depot to connect with government weather satellites, she shared with CNBC.—SK

Stat: Things travelers must navigate in 2024: doors blowing off planes, off-duty pilots on shrooms, and now, higher bag fees. American Airlines announced it’s raising the cost to check your first bag from $30 to $35 if booked online and $40 at the airport. The announcement came shortly after JetBlue and Alaska Airlines made similar changes, part of an industry-wide effort to juice bag prices to offset higher costs for fuel and labor. A report this week found that global bag fee revenue was more than $33 billion last year, up 15% from 2022 and for the first time higher than pre-pandemic levels. And yet, as much as airlines might make off of losing your golf clubs on the way to a bachelor party in Scottsdale, baggage fees account for only 4.1% of global airline revenue.

Quote: “I was there. But I was here!”

Karen Audet, an 82-year-old retired elementary school teacher spellbound by a virtual trip to Paris, really liked wearing a VR headset—as did a large majority of seniors in retirement communities who donned the burgeoning technology, according to a new study from Stanford. Researchers say that VR boosted the research participants’ moods and improved their interactions with staff, along with helping to spur memories in those with dementia. Perhaps they will soon help us set up our Quest 3s and Vision Pros.

Read: Young adults are rejecting finance guru Dave Ramsey’s advice to avoid debt at all costs. (WSJ)