First you have to ask yourself why would such a rule exist? Sometimes it is done in the interest of national security. Or you run into issues such as a desert kingdom purchasing rights to use massive quantities of farmland where water is already scarce. See Saudi Alfalfa in California. Or why Bill Gates is the biggest private farm land owner in the United States at around 242,000 acres and climbing. You need to look past the knee jerk assumption that the government is schizophrenic. There may be greater forces at play this intends to put the brakes on without overtly prohibiting those activities.