A plant pushing apparatus for mounting on a reel of a combine where the reel comprises a center shaft rotatably mounted at each end thereof to the combine header, a plurality of contact members mounted to the center shaft in a horizontal orientation radially spaced from the center shaft, and a drive operative to rotate the center shaft such that the contact members below the center shaft move in a rearward direction toward the combine header. For each contact member, a projecting shield member is adapted at an inner portion thereof for attachment to the contact member such that an outer edge of the projecting shield member is substantially horizontal and rearward of the contact member, and such that the outer edge of the projecting shield member contacts plant stalks, particularly sunflower plant stalks, and pushes the plant stalks toward the combine header ahead of the following attached contact member.

A dual cut header assembly a header, a chopper suspended from the header, and at least one actuator is provided between the chopper and the header for adapting a distance between the chopper and the header. The dual cut header assembly further includes at least one sensor for measuring a state of the chopper, and an actuator steering module connected to the at least one actuator. The header is provided to be lifted by an agricultural combine to cut crop material from a field at a first height. The chopper is provided to cut the crop material at a second height lower than the first height. The actuator steering module is configured to automatically adapt the distance based on the measured state.