Fieldtest: DRAGO Gold is reducing yield losses significantly

Sunflowers are a valuable crop, which is why it is extremely important to keep harvesting losses to an absolute minimum. The independent farm machinery journal “rpt” accompanied a German farmer during last year’s sunflower harvest and examined the header losses of his 16-row Olimac DRAGO Gold sunflower head. The result: DRAGO Gold considerably reduces header losses in the sunflower harvest.

260 ha of organic sunflowers

In 2022, the farming operation ADG Lützen-Dölzig added sunflowers to its crop rotation for the first time. In this first year, a total of 260 hectares of the crop were grown at a row spacing of 75 cm. Harvesting this acreage called for a dedicated header. The choice fell on a 16-row Olimac DRAGO Gold sunflower head with a working width of 12 meters. This row-dependent sunflower head stands out for its particularly gentle picking process combined with high working speeds. The sunflower head was mounted on a Claas Lexion 8700 combine with tracks.

Picking chains with rubber blocks

A row-dependent sunflower head differs considerably from a row-independent cutting platform. Its design is closer to that of a conventional corn head, yet it shows many differences. A closer look reveals the flat design of the row units as well as the higher side and rear walls. At the heart of the header are the rubberized picking blocks, one of which is attached to every second link of the drive chain. Their function is similar to the picking chains of a corn head. However, the blocks in the DRAGO Gold header are considerably larger, run more slowly and leave a relatively narrow gap in the working area. This keeps the vibrations transferred to the picked plants as low as possible and thus prevents the kernels from being shaken out of the sunflower heads. If kernels are lost nevertheless, they are caught by the adjoining blocks and carried to the combine. Seen from above, the space between the blocks is almost completely closed.

High working speeds

Average yields ranged between 3,000 and 4,000 kg per hectare at a crop moisture of around 9 %. With harvest volumes this low, it is difficult to work large combines to capacity the way corn or grain harvesting does. A large working width and high working speeds are the remedy. The special picking system makes it possible to harvest sunflowers at up to 12 km/h. During the loss tests at ADG Lützen-Dölzig, however, harvesting was carried out at a working speed of only 8 km/h, since higher speeds would have led to poorer cleaning performance by the combine.

Proven lower losses

The author from rpt developed a dedicated method for calculating harvesting losses. Before the combine enters the crop, loss measurements are already taken in order to separate the natural shedding of the sunflowers from the header losses recorded later. The field was then harvested by the Lexion with the sunflower head attached. After roughly 50 meters, the combine stops abruptly. Three areas of 0.25 m² each are then staked out between the 12-meter sunflower head and the tracks, and the kernels inside them are counted. This procedure was repeated three times in different parts of the field. The result was then extrapolated to the entire area in order to determine the specific header losses per hectare on the basis of the average yield.

The results were impressive. The first measurement produced the following losses: 1.16 % in the center, 1.47 % on the left and 0.12 % on the right. The second measurement produced 1.59 %, 0.37 % and 0 % respectively. The remaining measurements did not differ significantly from the first ones. The author from rpt, who has already carried out loss tests on various sunflower harvesting systems, confirmed that average header losses of less than 1 % can be rated as “outstanding” for the Olimac DRAGO Gold.

If you would like to avoid losses in your sunflower harvest as well, visit the DRAGO Gold product page for further information.

You can find the full article on the loss test in the March issue of the farm machinery magazine rpt: https://agropolska.pl/