Family Breaks Brand Loyalty to Save Yield
Pictured above: Drago customer Chris Ohrt stands with his father, Darrell Ohrt, grandfather, William Ohrt, and his two children, Caisen and Corbin Ohrt, in front of their 2017 12-row folding Drago GT. (Photo credit: Chris Ohrt)
Drago captured more corn than their Case 4400 series corn head, leaving little to no grain on the ground.
Chris Ohrt was harvesting corn when his grandfather, who was riding in the buddy seat next to him, asked, “What’s different about this corn head? There isn’t any corn on the ground. Why isn’t there any corn on the ground?”
“It was his first ride with our new Drago GT corn head,” Ohrt remembers. “He didn’t know anything about adjustable deck plates or QuadSuspension, but his years of experience told him we were saving more corn than the Case 4400 series corn head we had before.”
That was in 2017. Today, Chris and his father, Darrell, still farm the land near Kankakee, IL, where his grandfather, William, once did.
They harvest approximately 2,000 acres of corn each year and still have that same Drago corn head they bought eight years ago.
Reducing harvest loss
While most producers expect some yield loss at harvest, Ohrt says you don’t have to accept it. “We work hard all year to get as many bushels as we can, and we want to harvest as many bushels as we can.”
Ohrt says they farm on a lot of different soil types, including sand, rock, clay, and silt, as well as loam. “So, as we harvest from one end of a field to the other, we can get a lot of variability in both stalks and yield.”
“That’s why, once your combine is set, most of your harvest loss is at the corn head,” Ohrt says. “There’s so much material running through the corn head that manually adjusting deck plates is just a guessing game. It’s physically impossible to adjust those gaps.”
“We’d hit those sandy areas and get kernels and nubbins all over the ground. My dad and I wanted to eliminate that loss,” Ohrt says. “And the corn head is where it starts.”
Purchased a Drago GT
Ohrt said they started looking at other corn heads and came across Drago on the internet. After watching some videos and a little more research, they bought a new 12-row folding GT over the phone.
“We actually never even demoed or tried one,” Ohrt laughs. “The self-adjusting deck plates made sense to us, and we liked the way it was built – including its spiral-cut gears – for strength and longevity. It’s built with precision. That’s what really sold us on it.”
So what did the Ohrts think the first harvest they ran their Drago?
“It didn’t just meet our expectations,” Ohrt says. “It exceeded every one of them. I mean, it was a night and day difference. You could visually see it from the combine.”
He explains that, once again, it was his grandfather who noticed a difference. He said, “‘Listen! You don’t hear any corn hitting the windshield.’ It hadn’t dawned on me, but it’s true. We just don’t hear that anymore.”
He credits the GT’s over-sized auger and QuadSuspension, with its impact-absorbing “ear shocks” under deck plates, for reducing butt-shelling and kernel loss.
“Ear placement is so high on plants anymore,” he says. “Once ears smack those deck plates, they just shatter. But Drago’s rollers turn a little slower, so pull-down isn’t quite as hard, and the QuadSuspension definitely cushions that blow.”
“We had 12% moisture last year – I’ve never seen corn that dry – and the Drago really helped save yield.”
Neighbor bought one too
Ohrt said a couple years ago, tar spot and crown rot came through the area, and they had fields with corn that were lodging and falling down. “Any bit of wind and it was down.”
“At harvest, we had the Drago, and our neighbor’s corn head was a John Deere. They watched us – with no reel – go right through that corn like there wasn’t a problem, while they were barely moving and periodically stopping to remove trash.”
“They came over to see us and wanted to know, ‘What’s that head?’,” Ohrt recalls. “I told him it was a Drago and how much I liked it. I encouraged him to walk our field to look for corn on the ground and then walk his for the same.”
“And that’s what sold him,” Ohrt says. “He went out and bought a Drago that same year to finish his harvest.
“I don’t know if it’s the low angle of the corn head or the way the gathering chains work,” he says, “but it really works through down corn. It keeps a lot of debris out of the combine too.”
Ohrt believes many farmers underestimate the yield loss they actually experience. “We also tend to believe that brand parts are of the same quality and don’t question the cost of maintenance. But gathering chains and stalk roll knives don’t all wear the same.”
“We’ve run our 2017 GT for seven seasons, and the knives are in the same shape as when we bought that corn head new,” he says. “We have yet to replace a gathering chain and haven’t had to replace the knives on the stalk rolls.”
“The durability of a Drago is huge, and the operating cost is low.”
We farm for bushels
Ohrt says there’s never a time when you shouldn’t try to get all the corn you grow.
“We farm for bushels,” he says. “I want all the bushels I can get with the acres I have. Our Drago is the best corn head we’ve ever run. We wouldn’t demo another corn head if they brought it to us. There’s nothing really to fix, you know?
“It’s the only corn head I’ll ever own, I promise you that.”
Ohrt says his 85-year-old grandfather may be retired from farming but loves to ride in the combine at harvest and watch the Drago go to work.
“He was a little stubborn when it came to changing technology,” Ohrt says. “He bled Case-red his whole life. He didn’t like change. In fact, Drago is the only piece of machinery we’ve ever brought on this farm that was ‘different,’ and he laughed at the way we bought it.”
So, what does his grandfather think about the Drago corn head now?
“He told me, ‘This is the probably one of the best investments you’ve ever made.’”