Don't look now, but U.S. farmland has soared in value over the last twenty years. You can thank higher food prices by way of the voracious demand for grains and proteins from emerging markets -- as well as competition for crops from biofuels in an era of higher energy prices. Lately, investors have been piling into farmland (up more than 17% a year over the last ten years) as a hedge against inflation and currency debasement. Is this trend here to stay? Or are "nouveau-ags" swelling yet another asset bubble? We ask one of Virginia's biggest farmers, a buyer for a localvore-friendly market and a farm-raised investment banker who was recently a biofuels mogul.
