A comparative analysis of innovative in-harvest and conventional post-harvest mechanical residue management methods for grain corn, with an emphasis on operational parameters and corn residue shredding intensity
Shredding corn stubble and stover are necessary to prevent the overwintering of European corn borer larvae. Flail mowers are established for this task due to their high shredding intensity; however, they require an additional post-harvest field pass and can only inadequately process corn stubble that has been run over. This dissertation evaluates the corn header Horizon Star* III (HS3), developed to address this weakness by shredding corn stubble during the harvesting pass. The HS3 is equipped with hybrid flail and cutting tools (flail knives) on the horizontal choppers, enabling near-ground processing. A comparative assessment combines field experimentation and regression analyses to determine how shredding tool design, harvesting speed, and cutting height influence power consumption and associated parameters. At 6 km/h, the difference versus standard knives was 3.6–5.5 kW per row unit and versus disengaged horizontal choppers 5.3–6.6 kW per row unit. Across seven field trials, shredding intensity of corn stubble and stover was assessed with flail mowers as the reference method. Under favorable conditions, both methods were able to completely destroy more than 84% of corn stubble, while in track- and wheel-compacted areas the HS3 achieved better results. Under unfavorable conditions, where corn stubble with short lower internodes stood in depressions, the HS3 was more affected than the flail mowers. For corn stover, sieve analyses showed that flail knives reduced mean particle size by 3.6 mm compared to standard knives, while flail mowers reduced particle size by 11.8 mm. Overall, the HS3 demonstrates that integrating stubble shredding into the harvesting process is technically feasible and, under suitable conditions, agronomically beneficial.
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