The problem is that nowadays your land is not your land. You can't do whatever you want on it. Everything is heavily restricted by permits and regulations. Sure, you can farm, but you can't start a factory or mine the minerals on it. You can't build even a house on it without permission from someone else. All of this means that land is only a means of realistic production if you can navigate the arcane rules of the government. I agree that real estate is an important part of the economy, but for many it essentially is just an investment or rent generator (to lower the investment costs). Our modern economy is about making stuff and land use isn't directly related to it as much as it used to be.