A saying I've heard a few places, including from farming friends, is farming is an industry where they buy at retail and sell at wholesale. Unfortunately most of the money in farming seems to be holding onto land until it appreciates and can be sold.

The “buy at retail and sell at wholesale” is a good observation. But even land appreciation is not guaranteed. Some states are modifying the water regulations or land use regulation in a way that makes it practically impossible to operate a farm and therefore reduces the land value.