A seed pan apparatus for attachment to a cutting header having a knife and cooperating knife guards mounted along a lower front edge thereof includes a seed pan adapted at a front portion thereof for attachment to a guard finger such that when attached, the seed pan extends upward and rearward from a front portion of the seed pan forward of the guard finger over the guard finger and knife to a rear end thereof located rearward of the knife. Side walls extend upward from side edges of the seed pan, and side edges of the seed pan diverge from a front end to the rear end. The seed pan is configured such that when the seed pan is attached to the guard finger, side edges of the seed pan are located between the attached guard finger and an adjacent guard finger on each side.
