At Agritechnica 2019, Geringhoff presented a revolutionary corn header, the Horizon Star* III Razor, which is the world's first corn header to destroy stalks and stalk residue during harvest. This technology includes active residue treatment during cutting. The new system is an important contribution to environmentally friendly pest management and improved field hygiene during corn production.

Pests and fungal pathogens cause significant losses in yield and quality. The corn borer is one of the most harmful pests that can lead to large financial losses. If left untreated, this pest can lead to losses of 5 to 30% in areas with a large number of infected plants. Infected plants are also attacked by fungi, which accumulate toxins in them. After harvesting, both scoopers and fusarium use the crop residues to overwinter until the next growing season.

As criticism of genetically modified crops and chemical pest control grows in the wider society and political world, mechanical pest control solutions that are friendly to the environment will become more popular in the future. Effective control strategies based on the principles of integrated pest management are key in both conventional and organic farming.

The Horizon Star* III Razor is the solution - a tool for effective pest control. This maize header uses the already well-known 3-roller Rota Disc® technology, which thoroughly shreds stalk residue by pulling it through counter-rotating disc rotors with 15 cutting discs that interact with two steerable rollers. The shredded straw is then distributed by the stalk cutting device. During the distribution of the material, the new rotating tools also cut the remaining stalk. These tools have cutting edges and, at the same time, blunt tails that strike the stalk residue at an angle, tearing it right down to the root, while the horizontal blade cuts at ground level.

For optimal processing of stalk residue, the corn head should be as close to the soil as possible. Existing maize headers with rigid frames are not able to do this, so they produce inconsistent cutting heights in the wave relief, which affects the quality of the residue. The innovative Geringhoff frame offers a solution. The frame is split in half and consists of two independent sections for independent contouring. Each section has a height adjustment sensor, and a third sensor is located in the center of the machine where it monitors the height of the feeder. This technology results in an optimum ground contact between 1 and 5 cm and further improves the quality of work. The new drive provides additional reliability, even when in contact with the soil. Stalk residues that used to roll over and thus be lost in subsequent passes are now a thing of the past.

Useful links:

1. Section with spare parts for Geringhoff.
2. Spare parts for agricultural machinery - how to choose the right one.
3. Z-13 sprocket with MBY 030021 Geringhoff bearing.
4. Chopper guard right 506070 Compatible with Geringhoff.
5. Sprocket Z-15 3/4 030102 Compatible with Geringhoff.

The first field tests of the system's efficiency were conducted during the 2018 corn harvest. In cooperation with the Kiel University of Applied Sciences, an eight-row rigid frame prototype was tested on two fields in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. The test compared the performance of the new system with that of the top cutterbar.

The test site was a corn field that was harvested with the Horizon Star II header. Two parameters were evaluated during the tests: the level of stalk residue destruction and the quality of corn straw processing. The test results showed that the rigid head destroyed up to 90% of the corn stalk residue on flat soil. This compares with the level of stalk residue destruction achieved by the top cutterbar, excluding residue that was rolled over by the combine wheels. When these residues were taken into account, the amount of residue destroyed was significantly less than that achieved by the rigid Geringhoff Horizon Star* III Razor. This performance is further enhanced by the split frame design. The flexibility that comes with this brings additional benefits and achieves a similar level of destruction especially on uneven fields. The tests also revealed that the upper cutterbar in the next pass only provided minimally better chopping.

The Geringhoff header combines these two passes into one: harvesting the corn kernels and processing the stalk residue, which saves time and costs. Corn stalks are not pressed into the soil by the combine or transport trailers before they can be processed. Instead, they are already broken up during harvesting. This effectively destroys the stalk and straw residue, reduces the binding space for the corn scoop and results in rapid straw decomposition and reduced fusarium pressure on the following crop.