The highlight in silage production is in the regions of Chapecó and São Miguel do Oeste, which together account for around 105 thousand hectares of planted area – 48% of the state's total – and more than 4.5 million tons harvested in the last harvest. . As silage and milk production go hand in hand, the regions are also references in dairy farming. Chapecó and São Miguel do Oeste are the largest milk producers in the state, with strong expansion in recent years, participating with approximately 30% of all production in Santa Catarina
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has a major role in this increase. A large part of the seeds made available by the Terra-Boa Program are intended for planting corn silage, especially by small producers.
The share of seeds made available by the State Department of Agriculture, through the Terra Boa program, reaches 220 thousand bags per year, with the largest volume of these being destined for planting corn silage, especially small producers. This year the Program has resources of R$ 50.9 million to serve 70 thousand farmers with support for the acquisition of corn seeds, limestone, fodder kits and beekeeping kits.
Corn Grain
Santa Catarina farmers must allocate 318 thousand hectares to planting grain corn in the 2017/18 harvest – 12% less than in the last harvest. Because of this, production will also be lower, around 2.6 million tons – 16.5% lower than in the 2016/17 harvest. This trend is also observed in other states in the South: Paraná already announces a decrease of 33% in the corn cultivated area and Rio Grande do Sul expects a 23% drop.
The production of corn silage even had a major role in reducing the area planted with grain corn in the state.
