Study Shows Cornstalk Variability Higher in Higher-Yielding Corn Acres
Contrary to popular opinion in the world of corn farming, startling new data shows that the variability in cornstalks is actually greater in higher-yielding corn acres rather than lower-yielding tracts. It means the potential for yield loss with corn heads using hydraulic deck plates is highest in growers’ top-producing fields.
That should be alarming news for corn farmers relying on operator-controlled hydraulic deck plates to help them optimize yield – when in fact, they’re potentially losing more bushels on their best acres due to this outdated, inefficient technology.
The new data is the latest revelation from a multiyear study by Dragotec® USA. This study has been exploring actual stalk variability in cornfields and comparing how Drago corn head technology harvests corn more efficiently compared to corn heads with hydraulic deck plates – proven now to be an obsolete and costly technology for corn growers.
“Our study confirmed that variability and potential yield loss increase in better-yielding fields,” explains Dustin Bollig, farmer and vice president of Marketing and Sales for Dragotec USA. “This is counterintuitive to what we have found in market research, where nearly 80% of growers reported that they believed there is less variability in high-yielding fields. Our research confirms the opposite – the greater the yield, the greater the variability.”
“This isn’t to say that farmers don’t lose yield in lower-yielding fields,” Bollig adds. “In fact, gap differences can be wide enough in distressed acres that they can lose entire ears through deck plates rather than just kernels. It’s just that our research shows stalk variability increases with yield – and the potential for yield loss increases, too.”
Data captured in the 2020 field study showed that the number of deck plate adjustments per acre was more than double the number recorded in previous studies. According to Bollig, this correlates to the higher yields produced in 2020 and makes the shift to Drago’s automatically adjusting plates even more vital for growers intent on capturing as much yield as possible.
“Automatically adjusting Drago deck plates make hundreds and thousands of spacing decisions each second in every row, as harvest happens,” says Bollig. “The ability of the self-adjusting deck plates to make these adjustments at such a fast rate minimizes yield loss at harvest time.”
The efficiency of self-adjusting deck plates during harvest versus operator-adjusted hydraulic deck plates is even more apparent when compared to the number of times Drago corn heads adjust per second per row, versus how often growers using hydraulic plates claim to adjust them. For example, in a 2019 Dragotec survey, 74% of respondents said they adjusted their hydraulic deck plates a “couple of times” per field or less. Data from the study also showed that there can be a 1/2-inch difference in stalk thickness from one row to another at any given time.
Those stalk differences can translate to lost yield for growers using hydraulic deck plates at harvest.
“We know that 60% of yield loss during harvest occurs at the corn head,” says Bollig. “Growers can lose one to four bushels an acre with just 1/8-inch in stalk variability between the deck plate and stalk. Our data shows we’ve seen a 1/4-inch stalk variance from row to row at least 40% of the time – that leaves a lot of room for yield loss.”
The core problem with obsolete hydraulic deck plates is that they’re engineered based on the premise that there is a single “ideal” setting for stalk thickness – set all of your plates to that ideal setting, and you’ll optimize your yield.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In fact, the Dragotec data proves there is no “ideal” stalk thickness setting. The only proven way to ensure optimum yield is to use automatic, self-adjusting deck plate technology, engineered to cope with the real world variability of cornstalks in every row of every field.
“Hydraulic deck plates provide a false sense of peace of mind during harvest, but the truth is they are obsolete technology,” says Bollig. Since they are designed to move together, hydraulic plates are incapable of adjusting to the immense amount of row-to-row variability which Drago research has proven exists in cornfields. Drago’s automatic, self-adjusting technology allows each deck plate to adjust independently to the stalk width on each row, rather than hydraulic plates that require the operator to guess where to set their plates and then allows only one setting for all rows across the corn head.
“The potential for yield loss at the corn head is greater today than ever – corn genetics shell much easier than they did when hydraulic deck plates were introduced decades ago,” he explains. “The larger heads we now operate often cross multiple yield environments at the same time. That combination has really increased the importance of automatic deck plates to adjust to changing conditions and capture more yield.”
Additional data from the 2020 phase of the Dragotec study sheds more light on just how much variance in cornstalk thickness occurs from row to row and plant to plant:
- The study shows there can be a 1/2-inch difference or more in stalk thickness from one row to another at any given time – occurring over 450 times/acre.
- In the 2020 study, Drago deck plates automatically adjusted to changes in stalk width of 1/8-inch or greater more than 12,000 times per acre – nearly 3,000 times/minute across the head.
- Deck plate adjustments of 1/2-inch or more were measured to occur an average of 105 times/minute across the corn head in the 2020 study.
This latest study demonstrates the need for growers who want to reduce yield loss during harvest to switch to Drago corn heads. They provide unique features and technology that help maximize kernel capture and profit potential. These include:
- Automatically self-adjusting deck plates: The industry’s first and only corn head with this feature. The self-adjusting deck plates adjust to cornstalk variability on the fly, making hundreds or even thousands of adjustments per acre to optimize kernel capture.
- QuadSuspension™ deck plate shocks (on Drago GT): These shocks reduce butt shelling, which is a significant cause of yield loss during harvest.
- The longest knife roller of any corn head available: These longer rollers also have a smaller diameter, meaning they provide added plant processing time. That extra time means that the roller tips can run more slowly, which reduces ear bounce and ear loss without having to reduce combine speed.
- The industry’s largest auger: The 20-inch auger in the Drago GT corn head is partnered with a 28-inch pitch fin. This moves corn faster, but more gently, than competitive corn heads. It also handles more trash to keep your harvest moving through tough conditions.
“Market research shows that yield loss is the biggest dislike that the owners of competitive brands reported,” says Bollig. “Yield capture is what Drago owners liked best.
“It’s amazing to think that growers go to such lengths to grow the best yield with expensive genetics, fertilizers, precision technology and other inputs. Then, when it comes to harvest time, they use outdated technology from the 1980s to harvest their corn, leaving some of their carefully nurtured profits lying in the dirt. There are more yield-saving features in a Drago corn head than all other corn heads combined.”
To view more results from the Drago harvest study or to see Drago automatic self-adjusting deck plates in action, visit www.dragotec.com/fieldstudy21.
