SATELLITE-BASED AGRICULTURAL MODELING

• US 20190333163A1
• Filed: 06/24/2019
• Published: 10/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Indigo Ag, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Indigo Ag, Inc.
• Inventors: Perry, David Patrick, Knight, Barry Loyd, Jeck, Eric Michael, Raymond, Rachel Ariel, Rajdev, Neal Hitesh, von Maltzahn, Geoffrey Albert, Berendes, Robert, Post, Nathan, Hennek, Jonathan, Mullins, Ean Shaughnessy Wahl
• Granted Patent: US 11,170,453 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/10 Devices for predicting weather conditions computers per se G06; display devices G09
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0214 in accordance with safety or protection criteria, e.g. avoiding hazardous areas monitoring the location of vehicles within a certain area, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas, in traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/13
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/617 Safety or protection, e.g. defining protection zones around obstacles or avoiding hazards arrangements for controlling the position or course of two or more vehicles for avoiding collisions therebetween G05D1/693; arrangements for reacting to or preventing system or operator failure G05D1/80
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0832 Special goods or special handling procedures, e.g. handling of hazardous or fragile goods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08345 Pricing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08355 Routing methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0836 Recipient pick-ups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0202 Market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0605 Supply or demand aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 : Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/02 : Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 : Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/188 : Vegetation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096805 : where the transmitted instructions are used to compute a route
• CPC Class Codes: G16Y 10/05 : Agriculture

Abstract

An online agricultural system manages and optimizes interactions of entities within the system to enable the execution of transaction and the transportation of crop products. The online agricultural system accesses historic and environmental data describing factors that may impact crop product transactions and/or transportation to determine market prices for crop products and crop product transportation. Responsive to receiving a request from an entity, the online agricultural system determines an optimal transaction for the entity, such as a price for selling a crop product, an available crop product for purchase, or a transportation opportunity to transport a crop product.

Claims

1. A method for managing real-time interactions in an online agricultural system comprising:

receiving, from a first crop producer, a first request to list a first crop product within an online agricultural system, the first request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a first quantity of the crop product, a first crop product price, and a first location of the crop product;

receiving, from a first prospective acquiring entity, a second request to acquire a second crop product, the second request identifying at least the crop product type, a second quantity of the crop product, a second crop product price, and a second location to which the crop product is to be delivered;

monitoring, by a server in real-time, a third price associated with transferring possession of a third quantity of the crop product from the first crop producer to the first prospective acquiring entity, the third price determined based at least in part on the first location and the second location, the third quantity being equal to or less than the first quantity and equal to or less than the second quantity;

in response to a sum of the first price and the monitored third price being equal to or less than the second price;

automatically executing a first contract between the online agricultural system and the first crop producer to purchase the third quantity of the crop product from the crop producer; and

automatically executing a second contract between the online agricultural system and the first prospective acquiring entity to sell the third quantity of the crop product to the first prospective acquiring entity;

receiving, from a second crop producer, a third request to list a third crop product within the online agricultural system, the third request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a fourth quantity of the crop product, a fourth price of the crop product, and a third location of the crop product;

receiving, from a second prospective acquiring entity, a fourth request to list a fourth crop product within the online agricultural system, the fourth request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a fifth quantity of the crop product, a fifth price of the crop product, and a fourth location of the crop product;

monitoring, by the server in real-time, a sixth price associated with transferring possession of a sixth quantity of the fourth crop product from the second crop producer to the second prospective acquiring entity, the sixth price determined based at least in part on the third location and the fourth location, the sixth quantity being equal to or less than the fourth quantity and equal to or less than the fifth quantity; and

in response to a sum of the fourth price and the monitored sixth price being equal to or less than the fifth price;

automatically executing a third contract between the online agricultural system and the second crop producer to purchase the sixth quantity of the crop product from the second crop producer; and

automatically executing a fourth contract between the online agricultural system and the second prospective acquiring entity to sell the sixth quantity of the crop product to the second prospective acquiring entity.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, by the server in real-time, the first request and the second request associated with the first contract and the second contract and the third request and fourth request associated with the third contract and the fourth contract.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

in response to

     1) an agricultural optimization criteria being satisfied,

     2) the first crop product satisfying terms of the fourth contract, and

     3) the third crop product satisfying the terms of the second contract;

modifying the second contract such that the second contract is between the online agricultural system and the second prospective acquiring entity to sell the first crop product to the second prospective acquiring entity; and

modifying the fourth contract such that the fourth contract is between the online agricultural system and the first prospective acquiring entity to sell the third crop product to the first prospective acquiring entity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the agricultural optimization criteria is satisfied in response to a sum of distances between the first location and the second location and between the third location and the fourth location being greater than a sum of distances between the first location and the fourth location and between the third location and the second location.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the agricultural optimization criteria is satisfied in response to a total cost of transporting the first crop product from the first location to the second location and of transporting the third crop product from the third location to the fourth location being greater than a total cost of transporting the first crop product from the first location to the fourth location and transporting the third crop product from the third location to the second location.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

in response to the second contract being modified, automatically arranging for a transfer of possession of the crop product from the first crop producer to the second prospective acquiring entity; and

in response to the fourth contract being modified, automatically arranging for a transfer of possession of the crop product from the second crop producer to the first prospective acquiring entity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the automatically arranging for a transfer of possession of the crop product from the first crop producer to the second prospective acquiring entity comprises selecting a transportation entity selected from a group comprising:

the first crop producer, the second prospective acquiring entity, or a third-party transportation entity.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the agricultural optimization criteria is satisfied in response to quality metrics of the first crop product satisfying required quality metrics of the fourth request better than required quality metrics of the second request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first request additionally identifies a first quality specification of the crop product comprising a first set of quality metrics, wherein the second request additionally identifies a second quality requirement of the crop product comprising a second set of required quality metrics, wherein the third request additionally identifies a third quality specification of the crop product comprising a third set of quality metrics, and wherein the fourth request additionally identifies a fourth set of required quality metrics.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first contract and the second contract are automatically executed further in response to the first set of quality metrics satisfying the second set of required quality metrics, wherein the third contract and the fourth contract are automatically executed further in response to the third set of quality metrics satisfying the fourth set of required quality metrics, and wherein the first contract and the second contract are automatically executed before one of the third request is received or the fourth request is received.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein the agricultural optimization criteria is satisfied in response to quality metrics of the third crop product satisfying required quality metrics of the second request better than required quality metrics of the fourth request.

12. A system for managing real-time interactions in an online agricultural system comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed, cause the system to perform steps comprising;

receiving, from a first crop producer, a first request to list a first crop product within an online agricultural system, the first request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a first quantity of the crop product, a first crop product price, and a first location of the crop product;

receiving, from a first prospective acquiring entity, a second request to acquire a second crop product, the second request identifying at least the crop product type, a second quantity of the crop product, a second crop product price, and a second location to which the crop product is to be delivered;

monitoring, by a server in real-time, a third price associated with transferring possession of a third quantity of the crop product from the first crop producer to the first prospective acquiring entity, the third price determined based at least in part on the first location and the second location, the third quantity being equal to or less than the first quantity and equal to or less than the second quantity;

in response to a sum of the first price and the monitored third price being equal to or less than the second price;

automatically executing a first contract between the online agricultural system and the first crop producer to purchase the third quantity of the crop product from the crop producer; and

automatically executing a second contract between the online agricultural system and the first prospective acquiring entity to sell the third quantity of the crop product to the first prospective acquiring entity;

receiving, from a second crop producer, a third request to list a third crop product within the online agricultural system, the third request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a fourth quantity of the crop product, a fourth price of the crop product, and a third location of the crop product;

receiving, from a second prospective acquiring entity, a fourth request to list a fourth crop product within the online agricultural system, the fourth request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a fifth quantity of the crop product, a fifth price of the crop product, and a fourth location of the crop product;

monitoring, by the server in real-time, a sixth price associated with transferring possession of a sixth quantity of the fourth crop product from the second crop producer to the second prospective acquiring entity, the sixth price determined based at least in part on the third location and the fourth location, the sixth quantity being equal to or less than the fourth quantity and equal to or less than the fifth quantity; and

in response to a sum of the fourth price and the monitored sixth price being equal to or less than the fifth price;

automatically executing a third contract between the online agricultural system and the second crop producer to purchase the sixth quantity of the crop product from the second crop producer; and

automatically executing a fourth contract between the online agricultural system and the second prospective acquiring entity to sell the sixth quantity of the crop product to the second prospective acquiring entity; and

a hardware process configured to execute the instructions.

13. A method for managing real-time interactions in an online agricultural system comprising:

receiving, from a first crop producer, a first request to list a first crop product within an online agricultural system, the first request identifying at least one of;

a crop product type, a first quantity of the crop product, a first crop product price, and a first location of the crop product;

receiving, from a first prospective acquiring entity, a second request to acquire a second crop product, the second request identifying at least the crop product type, a second quantity of the crop product, a second crop product price, and a second location to which the crop product is to be delivered;

monitoring, by a server in real-time, a third price associated with transferring possession of a third quantity of the crop product from the first crop producer to the first prospective acquiring entity, the third price determined based at least in part on the first location and the second location, the third quantity being equal to or less than the first quantity and equal to or less than the second quantity;

in response to a sum of the first price and the monitored third price being equal to or less than the second price;

automatically executing a first contract between the online agricultural system and the first crop producer to purchase the third quantity of the crop product from the crop producer; and

automatically executing a second contract between the online agricultural system and the first prospective acquiring entity to sell the third quantity of the crop product to the first prospective acquiring entity;

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first request additionally identifies a first quality specification of the crop product comprising a first set of quality metrics, wherein the second request additionally identifies a second quality requirement of the crop product comprising a second set of required quality metrics, and wherein the first contract and the second contract are automatically executed further in response to the first set of quality metrics satisfying the second set of required quality metrics.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first request identifies the first location of the crop product, and wherein the first location of the crop product comprises one of:

a field boundary, a production location of the crop product, and a storage location of the crop product.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising obtaining environmental data for the first location of the crop product, and wherein the environmental data comprises current or historic weather data and/or one or more soil characteristics.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising obtaining remote sensing data for the first location of the first crop product, wherein the first crop product is a crop that has not been harvested, and wherein one or more of the type of the first crop product, the first quantity of the first crop product, and the first quality specification of the first crop product is inferred from the remote sensing data.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein a first quality specification is inferred from the first request, wherein the second request additionally identifies a second quality requirement, and wherein the first contract and the second contract are automatically executed further in response to the first quality specification satisfying the second quality requirement.

19. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

displaying, by the online agricultural system within an interface displayed by a client device of the first prospective acquiring entity, an expected distribution of prices or an expected average price of the crop product for the first prospective acquiring entity to acquire the second quantity of the crop product.

20. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

displaying, by the online agricultural system within an interface displayed by a client device of the first prospective acquiring entity, a distribution of geographic locations from which the crop product is expected to be acquired for the first prospective acquiring entity to acquire the second quantity of the crop product.