Corn is another relatively new crop to Western Bahia and it is very well suited to growing in the region providing rainfall is sufficient if grown on the dry land during the rainy season.  There has been extensive research and breeding done with corn in Brazil over the past few decades.  It is predominantly grown for the domestic stock feed market for chickens and pigs in the North East of Brazil especially, but with the growing demand for corn worldwide for bio-fuel supply things may well change.  The animal food market is relatively close to the Western Bahia and as a result the returns are good on investment. Currently there is no large consumer of animal feed grade corn locally. Almost all production is trucked out of the region. On irrigated land, corn, like soya beans has the added advantage for being a crop, which can be used in the attractive bio-fuel industry for the production of “green energy”; as it can be grown year round depending on harvest weather conditions. It too can be used as high quality supplemental fodder for cattle, either as silage or hard feed. Or it can be fed to pigs or chickens, as it is grown for in many other parts of the world.

Costs of growing good quality corn are higher than soy, but not into the cotton cost echelon.  There is good potential for corn to become an extremely important crop for Fazenda Nova Brazilandia because of the dual possibilities at harvest for stock feed on site or harvested as grain for external animal food or bio fuel.  Also the fact that 3 crops per year from irrigated well-fertilized land can be expected – utilizing all of Bahia's abundant sunshine and warmth with irrigation creating an optimal growth situation, corn is also a good rotational crop.

With the rapid expansion of corn fueled ethanol plants especially in the USA, the expansion of corn producing land in the Western Bahia is expected.  With the growing demand for corn worldwide for biofuel, supply demands may well change for the better.