Field and crop information gathering system
First Claim
1. A method of assisting a grower with production management decisions while collecting associations between growers and fields, comprising:
- a) collecting data associated with the grower, wherein the data comprises information related to seed, soil, growing of a crop, or a crop in a grower'"'"'s field and identification of the field;
b) associating a grower name of field and a name of grower with the data;
c) associating a genotype with the data;
d) generating a customized map report based on the data;
e) characterizing each field associated with the grower with one or more environmental characteristics;
f) determining one or more genotypes to grow in a future growing season using the customized map report and knowledge of genetics-environment interactions for the genotypes to thereby assist the grower with product management decisions; and
g) maintaining a repository for the data from a plurality of growers to maintain a record of associations between growers and fields controlled by the growers, the fields being identified by GPS position and grower name of field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method, apparatus, and system related to field and crop information gathering. In one aspect of the invention, data is obtained from a producer. One example would be yield map data from a yield monitor. Another is “as planted” data from precision farming planting equipment. The data includes information about seed or crop in a producer'"'"'s field and an identification of the field. The data is combined with other information in a report. The information added could be, for example, soil type information overlaid on the field map. Another example is environmental classification information overlaid on the field map. The report is returned to the producer and used to discuss planning related to the field and the seed or crop.
111 Citations
64 Claims
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1. A method of assisting a grower with production management decisions while collecting associations between growers and fields, comprising:
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a) collecting data associated with the grower, wherein the data comprises information related to seed, soil, growing of a crop, or a crop in a grower'"'"'s field and identification of the field;
b) associating a grower name of field and a name of grower with the data;
c) associating a genotype with the data;
d) generating a customized map report based on the data;
e) characterizing each field associated with the grower with one or more environmental characteristics;
f) determining one or more genotypes to grow in a future growing season using the customized map report and knowledge of genetics-environment interactions for the genotypes to thereby assist the grower with product management decisions; and
g) maintaining a repository for the data from a plurality of growers to maintain a record of associations between growers and fields controlled by the growers, the fields being identified by GPS position and grower name of field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 41, 42, 43)
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12. A method of assisting a grower with production management decisions while collecting associations between growers and fields, comprising:
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a) collecting data from a yield data card associated with the grower, wherein the data comprises GPS position information and information related to seed or a crop in a grower'"'"'s field;
b) associating a grower name of field and a name of grower with the data;
c) archiving the data onto a storage medium for the grower and storing the data on a second storage medium;
d) sending the second storage medium to a remote location;
e) generating a customized map report at the remote location;
f) providing the customized map report to a sales representative to present to the grower;
g) determining one or more seed products for a future growing season using the customized map report to thereby assist the grower with product management decisions;
h) maintaining a repository for the data from a plurality of growers to maintain a record of associations between growers and fields controlled by the growers, the fields being identified by GPS position and grower name of field. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method of gathering precision farming information from a wide diversity of fields of a plurality of crop producers to assist in recommendation of future seed buying recommendations comprising:
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a) obtaining access to precision farming information from a precision farming device of a first crop producer, the precision farming information including but not limited to field boundaries and yield of a crop harvested from those field boundaries;
b) transferring the precision farming information of the first producer to a portable computer;
c) creating copies of the precision farming information of the first producer on a digital memory medium;
d) presenting a copy to the first producer;
e) sending a copy to a central data processing center;
f) obtaining an aerial photograph of land including land related to the precision farming information of the first crop producer;
g) using the precision farming information at the central processing center to create;
i) an aerial photograph of land related to the precision farming information of the first crop producer with field boundaries superimposed;
ii) a yield map of each field related to the field boundaries;
h) providing to the first crop producer the aerial photograph and yield map(s) of step (g);
i) repeating steps (a)-(h) for a second crop producer;
j) storing in a database the precision farming information from the first and second crop producers;
k) analyzing the precision farming information from the first and second crop producers;
l) using the analysis of step (k) to make seed buying recommendations to the first and second crop producers. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A kit usable by a sales representative for making seed buying recommendations to a crop producer comprising:
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a) a portable computer with a CD-ROM writer;
b) a plurality of writable CD-ROMs;
c) a plurality of mailing envelopes preaddressed to a central processing center;
d) a software program executing on the portable computer adapted for (i) receiving data from a crop producer related to seed or crop in a field;
(ii) associating the data with producer information;
(iii) determining a format of the data;
(iv) writing at least one CD-ROM with the data, or creating a file with the data.
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20. A method of gathering information from crop producers to assist in making recommendations to the crop producers for next season'"'"'s crop comprising:
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a) transferring from a crop producer yield and correlated geographic position data for each selected field of the crop producer to a portable data storage device;
b) transferring the yield and correlated geographic position data from the portable data storage device to a remote central processing device;
c) generating a report comprising i) the yield and correlated geographic position data, and ii) a customer-provided field identification for each selected field, iii) a yield map for each selected field, the yield map including the field identification and a graphic indication of yield magnitude relative to geographic position in the selected field, and iv) a harvest summary, the harvest summary including both field by field yield analysis and cumulative yield analysis for the crop producer;
d) making the report available to the crop producer;
e) recommending to the crop producer one or more seed types for next season'"'"'s crop. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of gathering information to use in making recommendations to crop producers about future crops comprising:
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a) obtaining yield and correlated geographical data for one or more fields from each of a plurality of crop producers at distributed geographical locations during or close to harvest;
b) transferring the obtained data to a central database;
c) generating yield maps on a field by field basis and a harvest summary on a field by field and cumulative basis for each crop producer;
d) providing a crop producer access to its yield maps and harvest summary;
e) recommending future seed varieties to the crop producers;
f) using the data in the central database to make research, advancement, and/or supply decisions for future seed varieties. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54)
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55. A method of gathering precision farming information from a wide diversity of fields of a plurality of crop producers to assist in recommendation of future seed buying recommendations comprising:
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a) obtaining access to precision farming information from a precision farming device of a first crop producer, the precision farming information including but not limited to field boundaries and yield of a crop harvested from those field boundaries;
b) transferring the precision farming information of the first producer to a portable computer;
c) creating copies of the precision farming information of the first producer on a digital memory medium;
d) presenting a copy to the first producer;
e) sending a copy to a central data processing center;
f) obtaining an aerial photograph of land including land related to the precision farming information of the first crop producer;
g) using the precision farming information at the central processing center to create;
i) an aerial photograph of land related to the precision farming information of the first crop producer with field boundaries superimposed;
ii) a yield map of each field related to the field boundaries;
h) providing to the first crop producer the aerial photograph and yield map(s) of step (g);
i) repeating steps (a)-(h) for a second crop producer;
j) storing in a database the precision farming information from the first and second crop producers;
k) analyzing the precision farming information from the first and second crop producers;
l) using the analysis of step (k) to make seed buying recommendations to the first and second crop producers. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A system for gathering information from crop producers to assist in making recommendations to the crop producers for next season'"'"'s crop comprising:
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a) a portable computer with a CD-ROM writer adapted to receive and write a CD-ROM with yield and correlated geographic data from a harvested field of a crop producer;
b) a communication link to a central processing computer adapted to transfer the written CD-ROM to a remote central processing computer;
c) a database in operative communication with the central processing computer;
d) software operable with the central processing computer to process the data on the written CD-ROM into a report, the report comprising a yield map for the harvested field and a harvest summary.
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61. A kit usable by a sales representative for making seed buying recommendations to a crop producer comprising:
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a) software;
b) a portable computer with a CD-ROM writer and a display screen;
c) a plurality of writable CD-ROMs;
d) a plurality of mailing envelopes preaddressed to a central processing center.
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62. A software program adapted to assist gathering of yield and correlated geographic data for a field of a crop producer comprising:
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a) a graphic user interface;
b) a routine to read data from a data card from a precision farming device used to harvest a crop;
c) a routine to attempt to recognize the format of the data on the data card;
d) a routine to copy data from the data card;
e) a routine to write a CD-ROM of the data from the data card.
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63. A method for efficient processing of yield and correlated geographic data from a plurality of fields of a plurality of crop producers comprising:
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a) using a widely distributed work force to download the data from each crop producer;
b) immediately sending the downloaded data to a central processing location;
c) obtain receipt at the central processing location, correlating each data to a crop producer;
d) immediately generating a report based on the correlated data;
e) immediately returning the report to a member of the workforce. - View Dependent Claims (64)
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Specification