> Don't know about the US, but where I live farmland is restrictively zoned to preserve its agricultural use
So central land use planning? Rural America won't be that Commumist -- not even by law, just look at the way it votes.
Freedom means a farmer can do whatever they want with their land
Freedom-loving, R-voting America is full of restrictive zoning. I don't think it's necessarily the contradiction you make it out to be. Especially if, like here, the government doesn't tell you what or how to farm, only that farmland is for farming.