Drago GT exceeds expectations, delivers more yield and higher seed quality compared to Oxbo.
If you want to give a seed company heartburn, tell them you intend to harvest their valuable seed corn with a head known primarily for its performance in field corn, instead of a corn head purpose-built for harvesting seed corn. In the seed industry, seed quality means everything.
Yet, that’s what seed corn grower Mike Binsfeld told Western Hybrids he planned to do last year when he purchased a 14-row Drago GT corn head.
Despite the reputation of the Oxbo brand for harvesting seed corn, the South Haven, Minnesota, grower believed the seed quality and yield on his acres could be better.
Binsfeld picks “roughly” 800 acres of his own seed corn and close to 1,200 contracted acres.
“We start harvesting seed corn anywhere from 30 to 35% moisture and pick the entire ear,” Binsfeld says. “Kernels at that moisture level can be easily damaged, especially when knife rollers pull stalks down too fast, causing ears to bounce off deck plates and kernels to scatter. And that’s what was happening with the Oxbo.”
Agronomist concerned
Binsfeld said his seed company agronomist was not pleased with his decision to change corn heads and promised he “would be on my butt the entire first week of harvest” to make sure we weren’t shelling, and that the seed measured up to their standard of quality.
“We were fine with that because I wanted his feedback,” he says.
The agronomist’s concern is easy to understand. With features including “rubber gathering belts, beveled chromed deck plates and tapered knife rolls,” Oxbo’s purpose-built seed corn head is ubiquitous within the industry.
“We did share some worries,” Binsfeld explains, “especially if there would be more damage going from Oxbo’s rubber belt to Drago’s metal gathering chains.”
It was Binsfeld’s first-hand experience with a Drago GT harvesting his own field corn that encouraged him to consider Drago for harvesting seed corn. “We talked to other seed growers who told us how much better Drago performed for them, and after a lot of research decided to make the move.”
World of difference
“What we learned is that the Drago is actually more gentle with harvesting seed corn,” Binsfeld says. “Their knife rollers are designed to run slower, so stalks aren’t pulled down as hard. And if the shock-absorbing deck plates (called QuadSuspension™) are maintained properly, they can make a world of difference reducing ear bounce and butt shelling.”
Binsfeld also describes how well the Drago corn head works through different types of corn varieties.
“In field corn, you see the big, tall 12-foot hybrids standing there, but seed corn varieties are much different. They’re cut off, so along with being much shorter, their ear placement can be close to the ground or much higher. I like to position the header as close to the ear as possible and the Drago does a phenomenal job of picking everything up.
“And I really like the automatic deck plates,” Binsfeld adds. “You can lose ears if deck plates aren’t adjusted properly. But with the Drago, I can go from one field with really, really thick stalks and into the next field with much smaller stalks without having to make any adjustments to the deck plates whatsoever. They just automatically do it for you.”
Change of Heart
Binsfeld said everything he hoped the Drago GT corn head would do in harvesting seed corn, it did. “We saved yield, and we had a better-quality seed.
“And that wasn’t just my observation. The seed company contracted a couple crews, and we were the only ones with a Drago header — the others all had Oxbo headers. They could tell the difference and told us they definitely liked the Drago better.”
And what did the seed company agronomist have to say?
“By the end of the season, I heard the word ‘love’ come out of his mouth,” Binsfeld laughs. “He actually thanked me for upgrading to the Drago, so I think he’s on board with it now.”
“Our seed company agronomist actually thanked us for upgrading to the Drago.”
Learn more about harvesting seed corn with Drago here.