He Switched To 15-In. Corn, Beans

He Switched To 15-In. Corn, Beans COMBINES Accessories 28-6-18 After years of research, Panora, Iowa, farmer Mark Vogel switched his entire farm to 15-in. rows last spring - 1,300 acres of corn and 1,100 acres of soybeans. He traded in his grain drill and 12-row, 30-in. planter for a Deere 1780 15-in. row planter that can plant either 16 or 31 rows at a time. He uses the same planter to plant both corn and beans. And he bought a 16-row, 15-in. corn header from Marion Calmer of Alpha, Ill. Vogel went into the field with the Calmer header for the first time shortly before this issue went to press. "I paid $45,000 for the planter, which I bought used, and $57,000 for the new corn header. However, I think the yield benefit of 15-in. rows will pay for itself," he says. Vogel made the switch to narrow rows after he expanded his farm by renting several hundred more acres. "I needed more planting capacity, but I didn't want to spend the money for both a bigger planter and a bigger drill. Most farmers use the Deere 1780 planter to plant 30-in. corn and 15-in. soybeans. When I found out about the Calmer 15-in. corn head, I decided to use the planter for both 15-in. corn and beans. I think a planter works better than a drill for beans because it places the seed at a more uniform depth, which results in better germination. But in general, both corn and beans yield better in 15-in. rows than they do in 30-in. rows. Corn seed is spaced 13 in. apart in the row, whereas in 30-in. rows the seed is 7 in. apart. There's more room for each plant to grow. "What I like about the Calmer corn header is that it's lightweight, requires less horsepower, and has less trash intake. All three factors make it much easier on the combine. It has super short poly dividers and low profile poly hoods and uses a single chain instead of a dual chain on each row, which reduces weight." According to inventor Marion Calmer, the header's ear guides form a retaining wall to maintain engagement of the ears with enlarged gathering chain paddles. Both the ear guides and the paddles are made of polyethylene. "By eliminating the second chain, guide, drive sprocket, driveshaft, idler block, idler sprocket and chain tension spring, we reduce the weight of the corn header by more than 30 lbs. per row and significantly lower horsepower requirements," says Calmer. "The hoods and dividers are super short which makes them more maneuverable and also helps reduce the weight by about 35 lbs. per row. Altogether, our header is up to 1,800 lbs. lighter than the competition." The header can be factory painted to match your combine and is available with any color poly deck covers, dividers and wear points. Optional equipment includes hydraulic stripper plates, auto lubrication, stubble lights, and field tracker/contour master. Calmer offers the headers in both 15, 20, and 22-in. models. "If you're thinking about switching to narrow row corn, order early because we always sell out on the corn headers early in the season," he says. Calmer will be hosting narrow row corn workshops on December 8 and 9 at his farm in western Illinois. The dual purpose workshops will contain information on the agronomics of growing narrow row corn, as well as the mechanical side of harvesting narrow rows. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Vogel, 715 E. Main, Panora, Iowa 50216 (cell ph 641 757-0298) or Calmer Corn Heads, 550 N. Knox Rd., Alpha, Ill. 61413 (ph 309 334-2609; fax 309 334-2696; email: mcalmer@winco.net; website: www.calmer agresearch.com).

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