In order to research the factors that affect the corn stalk cutting force and cutting power consumption, field reciprocating cutting test bench for crop stalks was developed. The test bench could switch to a different shape of the blade. The cutting speed could be adjusted in a range of 0~2.5 m/s. The cutting angle could be adjusted in a range of 0°~35°. The curves of cutting force changed with time were obtained by the experiment. The cutting power consumption was calculated according to these curves. The effect of blade shape, blade opening angle, cutting speed and cutting angle on the cutting force and power consumption were analyzed. The experimental results showed that the error of test bench data was less than 1.12%. With the increasing of cutting speed and cutting angle, the maximum cutting force and cutting power consumption were both decreased gradually. The cutting force of zigzag blade was smaller than that of smooth blade. The cutting force of 20° cutting angle was smaller than that of the other angle.