A crop lifter apparatus has a base member attached to a selected guard finger of a cutting header. A front lifting finger extends forward and downward from the base member at a first angle downward from horizontal, and a rear lifting finger extends rearward and upward from the base member at second angle upward from horizontal, where the second angle is greater than the first angle. A front end of the front lifting finger is at a front vertical location that is a first distance below a top surface of the table, and a rear end of the rear lifting finger is at a rear vertical location that is a second distance above the top surface of the table, and the second distance is at least twice the first distance.
