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New stalk rolls crimp stalks for faster fall breakdown

Sneak preview of new products featured at the 2015 Farm Progress Show: 360 Yield Center stalk rolls.

Tom Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

September 29, 2015

2 Min Read

Maybe you're in your combine right now checking us out on your phone or tablet. If you are, look at how your cornhead handles corn stalks. One company believes there is a better way to handle stalks to actually get an edge on yield benefit for next season.

Related: 360 Yield Center focuses early product lineup on mid-season N corrections

360 Yield Center introduces new stalk rolls that do more crimping to stalks than regular rolls. Note in the picture how the stalks have been opened down the side of the stalk. Each one of these stalks was run through a demo where the "cornhead" was equipped with the stalk rollers offered by 360 Yield Center.

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Spokespersons say the primary advantage is that corn stalks are opened up to begin breakdown by microbes sooner. Bacteria can start working on them during the fall and can begin the degradation process.

Especially if you're growing corn after corn, the buildup of stalk residue is becoming more of a concern. That's particularly true after harvesting a good crop of corn.

Improved plant health through genetics or through the use of Bt traits is also keeping stalks greener longer into the fall in many situations. Spokespersons say this is one way to help get a jump on next season.

360 Yield Center as a company is about anything that can improve yield and net income from planting through harvest. One other product displayed at the recent Farm Progress Show was a concept gathering belt for cornheads. Instead of a chain an interlocking belt would bring ears up to the throat of the machine.

Related: 360 Yield Center Unveils Three New Products

The biggest advantage of the interlocking belt over the chain is that it prevents corn kernels from falling through and being lost to the ground. One challenge still ahead is how to make sure ears continue traveling up the cornhead toward the throat and not falling backward. Stay tuned.

About the Author

Tom Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

Tom Bechman is an important cog in the Farm Progress machinery. In addition to serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, Tom is nationally known for his coverage of Midwest agronomy, conservation, no-till farming, farm management, farm safety, high-tech farming and personal property tax relief. His byline appears monthly in many of the 18 state and regional farm magazines published by Farm Progress.

"I consider it my responsibility and opportunity as a farm magazine editor to supply useful information that will help today's farm families survive and thrive," the veteran editor says.

Tom graduated from Whiteland (Ind.) High School, earned his B.S. in animal science and agricultural education from Purdue University in 1975 and an M.S. in dairy nutrition two years later. He first joined the magazine as a field editor in 1981 after four years as a vocational agriculture teacher.

Tom enjoys interacting with farm families, university specialists and industry leaders, gathering and sifting through loads of information available in agriculture today. "Whenever I find a new idea or a new thought that could either improve someone's life or their income, I consider it a personal challenge to discover how to present it in the most useful form, " he says.

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