The number of acres of farmland in Pennsylvania fell by 6% between 2012 and 2017, at a time when the stateâs prime farming regions are experiencing population growth that may create long-term challenges for producers. Thatâs one conclusion of a new report from the Center for Economic and Community Development in Penn Stateâs College of Agricultural Sciences. âWhere the Soybeans Grow: An Exploration of Agricultural Land Use in Pennsylvania, 2017â is part of a series based on data from USDAâs 2017 Census of Agriculture. According to the report, Pennsylvania is the 32nd largest state in terms of total land area, with more than 28.6 million acres, about 25% of which â nearly 7.3 million acres â is farmland. This agricultural land is grouped into four categories: cropland, woodland, pastureland and âother landâ dedicated to farming purposes.