I actually do live in a somewhat rural area down the street from a dairy farm. I’m not in the Midwest though, I’m a dirty coastal elite in PA

Institutional investors invest in rural real estate as well. It’s calmed down a bit since 2021 when they were really aggressive but they see farmland as a stable investment

investigatemidwest.org/…/farmland-values-lose-ste…

I do agree that zoning needs to be fixed and suburbia needs to end though