An agricultural harvesting machine has a cutting apparatus formed as a header for cutting and picking up crop of a crop stand, an inclined conveyor downstream of the cutting apparatus and in which a temporal layer height flow is adjusted, and a driver assistance system for controlling the cutting apparatus. The driver assistance system has a computing device and a sensor arrangement with a crop sensor system for generating crop parameters of the crop stand and a layer height sensor for generating the temporal layer height flow. The computing device simultaneously generates the cutting apparatus parameters of the cutting table length, horizontal reel position and vertical reel position so as to be adapted to one another and conveys them to the cutting apparatus to implement a harvesting process strategy in ongoing harvesting operation.