Corn header including a kernel sensor and a control unit for controlling desk plates of the corn header

An agricultural harvesting system comprising:

• a combine harvester;
• and
• a corn header attached to a forward portion of the combine harvester, the corn header comprising:
• a plurality of harvesting units, each configured to separate corn ears from corn stalks, each of the plurality of harvesting units comprising:
• a deck plate assembly comprising a pair of deck plates which are spaced apart to define a stalk receiving channel having a width;
• and
• an actuator assembly configured to adjust the width of the stalk receiving channel by adjusting a position of at least one of the deck plates;
• a kernel sensor configured to generate a kernel signal representative of a presence of kernels that are detached from the ears during the separation of the corn ears from the corn stalks by the harvesting units;
• and
• a control unit configured to receive the kernel signal from the kernel sensor, to receive an operating condition signal indicative of an operating condition of the combine harvester, the operating condition comprising a power consumption of the combine harvester, and to generate, based on the kernel signal and the operating condition signal, an actuator control signal for controlling the actuator assemblies of the plurality of harvesting units, to control the width of the stalk receiving channels of the plurality of harvesting units.