Method for use of environmental classification in product selection

• US 8,032,389 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2006
• Issued: 10/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pioneer Hi-Bred International (Corteva, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Pioneer Hi-Bred International (Corteva, Inc.)
• Inventors: Harwood, David J., Brooke, Richard Glenn, Ertl, David S., Lauer, Michael J., Iwig, Robert C., Meyer, Terry Eu Claire, Avey, Donald P., Bax, Phillip Lee, Peterson, Todd A., Gogerty, Joseph K.
• Primary Examiner(s): OUELLETTE, JONATHAN P
• Application Number:
  US11/423,642
• Publication Number:
  US 20060282299A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,940 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/1.1
• US Class Current: 705/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: A01B 79/005 Precision agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 1/00 Apparatus, or methods of use thereof, for testing or treating seed, roots, or the like, prior to sowing or planting
• CPC Class Codes: A01C 21/00 Methods of fertilising , sowing or planting
• CPC Class Codes: A01H 1/04 Processes of selection involving genotypic or phenotypic markers; Methods of using phenotypic markers for selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0282 Rating or review of business operators or products
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/03 Credit; Loans; Processing thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/02 Agriculture; Fishing; Forestry; Mining
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/10 in agriculture
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/22 Improving land use; Improving water use or availability; Controlling erosion

Abstract

Methods and software for selecting seed products or other agricultural inputs for planting within an associated land base include classifying the land base with an environmental classification, determining at least one seed product to plant within the land base based on the environmental classification, and providing an output comprising identification of the at least one seed product to plant within the land base.

Claims

1. A method of identifying seed products for planting by a crop producer associated with a land base, each of the seed products having a genotype, the method comprising:

providing an environmental profile for the land base and storing information related to the environmental profile on a computer readable storage medium;

providing a producer profile for the crop producer, including risk tolerance information,

wherein the risk tolerance information comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the crop producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

determining a recommendation of at least one seed product to plant within the land base based on the environmental profile, the producer profile, and performance of the genotype of each of the seed products in the environmental profile of the land base using a central processing unit of a computer that can access the computer readable storage medium;

creating an output comprising identification of the at least one seed product to plant within the land base.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the environmental profile includes an environmental classification associated with the land base.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the recommendation is based at least partially on genotype-by-environment interactions.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of determining the recommendation is based at least partially on genotype-by-environment-by-management interactions.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the environmental profile includes agronomic information.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the environmental profile includes meteorological information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the environmental profile includes field experimentation information.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the producer profile includes business goals of the crop producer.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the producer profile includes productivity goals of the crop producer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the producer profile includes at least one item from the set consisting of no till information, size of farm information, number of farms information, landlord preference information, equipment limitations, and work force limitations.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one seed product is a plurality of seed products.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the environmental profile includes data selected from the set consisting of wind data, temperature data, solar radiation data, precipitation data, soil type data, soil pH data, planting and harvesting dates, irrigation data, tiled area data, previous crop data, fertilizer data, nitrogen level data, phosphorous level data, potassium level data, insecticide data, herbicide data, and biotic data.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the screen display is on a computer monitor.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising supplying the at least one seed product to the crop producer.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising planting at least one of the seed product.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising wherein the output further comprises at least one management recommendation.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the performance of the genotype of each of the seed products in the environmental profile of the land base being determined by performance of the seed products in the environmental profile of the land base and by performance of genetically related seed products in the environmental profile of the land base, the genetically related seed products being genetically related to one or more of the seed products.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more of the seed products having never been planted by the crop producer.

19. A method of providing seed products for planting by a crop producer associated with a land base, each of the seed products having a genotype, the method comprising:

providing a characterization of the land base and storing information related to the characterization on a computer readable storage medium;

associating acceptable risk level with the crop producer, wherein the risk level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the crop producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

determining at least one seed product to plant within the land base based on the risk level, the characterization of the land base, and genotype-by-environment interactions associated with the seed products;

providing an output comprising identification of the at least one seed product to plant within the land base using a central processing unit of a computer that can access the computer readable storage medium; and

providing seeds matching the identification of the at least one seed product to the crop producer for planting on the land base.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the characterization of the land base is based partially on environmental and/or physiological landmark data.

21. The method of claim 19 wherein the genotype-by-environment (G×

E) interactions are determined at least partially based on performance data associated with the seed products.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein G×

E interactions are determined by statistical methods.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the genotype-by-environment interactions are determined at least partially based on environmental classifications associated with performance data of the seed products.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein said performance data includes at least one item from the set consisting of yield, drought resistance, grain moisture, lodging, stand establishment, emergence, midsilk, test weight, protein, oil, and starch percentage, relative maturity, plant height, seed size, disease resistance genes, heading date, resistance to insects, brittle snap, stalk breakage, resistance to fungus, seed moisture, head shape, hullability, seedling vigor, beginning bloom date, maturity date, seed shatter, winter survival, fiber strength, and color grade.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of determining at least one seed product to plant within the land base is further based on genotype by environment by management interactions.

26. The method of claim 19 wherein the characterization of the land base includes an environmental characterization of the land base.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the environmental characterization includes determining an environmental classification selected from a set of environmental classes, the set of environmental classes comprising a temperate class, a temperate dry class, a temperate humid class, a high latitude class, and a subtropical class.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the environmental characterization includes determining an environmental classification selected from a set of environmental classes, the set of environmental classes comprising biotic classifications.

29. The method of claim 19 wherein the at least one seed product to plant is a plurality of seed products.

30. The method of claim 19 wherein the output is a printed output.

31. The method of claim 19 wherein the output is displayed on a display.

32. The method of claim 19 further comprising recommending at least one seed product to plant within the land base.

33. A method of selecting seed products for planting by a crop producer associated with a land base, each of the seed products having a genotype, the method comprising:

classifying the land base with an environmental classification and storing an indication of the environmental classification on a computer readable storage medium;

assigning a risk tolerance level to the crop producer, wherein the risk tolerance level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the crop producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

determining at least one seed product to plant within the land base based on the environmental classification, the risk tolerance level, and the genotype by environment interactions associated with the seed products using a central processing unit of a computer that can access the computer readable storage medium;

providing an output comprising identification of the at least one seed product to plant within the land base.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the output further comprises predicted performance data for the at least one seed product.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising comparing the predicted performance data to actual data.

36. A method of determining a seed product that is likely to be a high performer for a producer'"'"'s particular land base, each seed product having a genotype, the method comprising:

providing an electronic data bank comprising at least one seed product'"'"'s prior performance, wherein each seed product'"'"'s prior performance was determined at different locations under different environmental, biotic or abiotic conditions or a combination of said conditions;

providing a characterization of a producer'"'"'s particular land base;

assigning a risk acceptance level to the producer, wherein the risk acceptance level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

selecting and retrieving from the electronic data bank performance data for seed products that have been grown in locations the same or similar to the producer'"'"'s particular land base;

comparing with a computer processor that can access the electronic data bank the performance data of said products grown in locations similar to the producer'"'"'s particular land base with one another;

determining whether a seed product performed better than other seed products;

providing an output comprising an identification of at least one seed product that is likely to be a high performer for the producer'"'"'s particular land base and that is consistent with the risk acceptance level of the producer.

37. The method of claim 36 further comprising collecting data that measures at least one seed product'"'"'s performance at different locations under different environmental, biotic or abiotic conditions or a combination of these conditions.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said collected data is entered into a database.

39. The method of claim 36 wherein the characterization of the land base is based partially on environmental and/or physiological landmark data.

40. The method of claim 36 further comprising classifying the land base with an environmental classification.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the environmental characterization includes determining an environmental classification selected from a set of environmental classes, the set of environmental classes comprising a temperate class, a temperate dry class, a temperate humid class, a high latitude class, and a subtropical class.

42. The method of claim 40 wherein the environmental characterization includes determining an environmental classification selected from a set of environmental classes, the set of environmental classes comprising biotic classifications.

43. The method of claim 40 further comprising determining environmental classification frequencies of the land base.

44. The method of claim 38 further comprising classifying seed product performance data by environmental classification.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising weighting the data based on long-term frequencies.

46. The method of claim 39 wherein at least one seed product is selected as a high performer.

47. The method of claim 38 wherein the output is a printed output.

48. A method of selecting a portfolio of seed products for planting within a land base associated with a producer, each of the seed products having a genotype, the method comprising:

dividing the land base into regions;

providing an environmental profile for each of the regions of the land base to a computer;

providing a risk tolerance level of the producer to the computer, wherein the risk tolerance level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

using a processor within the computer to determine a recommendation of a plurality of seed products to plant within each region of the land base wherein the recommendation is partially based on interaction of the genotype of each seed product with the environmental profile, and relative performance of the seed product within the environmental profile across potential variations and on the risk tolerance level of the producer; and

displaying the recommendation on a display of the computer.

49. A method of supplying a portfolio of seed products for planting within a land base associated with a producer, each of the seed products having a genotype, the method comprising:

dividing the land base into regions;

associating an acceptable risk level with the producer, wherein the acceptable risk level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

accessing an environmental profile for each of the regions of the land base using a computer;

determining potential variations in the environmental profile during a growing season;

using the computer to make a recommendation for the portfolio of seed products to plant within the land base, the recommendation including a selection of at least one seed product for each region of the land base, the recommendation for the portfolio based on the environmental profile for each of the regions and potential variations in the environmental profile to thereby manage risks associated with the potential variations and based upon the acceptable risk level associated with the producer; and

providing seeds that match the recommendation at the land base for planting.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the risks associated with the potential variations are risks in performance.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein the risks associated with the potential variations comprise risks associated with weather conditions.

52. The method of claim 49 wherein the risks associated with the potential variations comprise risks associated with plant diseases.

53. A method of selecting a portfolio of seed products for planting within a land base controlled by a producer, the land base comprising a plurality of fields, the method comprising:

determining a location of each of the plurality of fields controlled by the producer and a size for each of the plurality of fields;

providing a visual depiction of the fields on a display screen showing the relative location of each of the fields within the land base;

determining a recommendation of a plurality of seed products to plant within each field, wherein the recommendation being at least partially based on performance of the plurality of seed products under a range of environmental classifications and upon a risk tolerance level of the producer to thereby manage overall production risk for the producer, wherein the risk tolerance level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

displaying the recommendation on the display screen.

54. The method of claim 53 further comprising receiving from the producer confirmation of a mix of seed products to plant.

55. The method of claim 54 further comprising receiving information for invoicing from the producer.

56. An article of software stored on a computer readable medium and adapted for assisting a producer in selecting a mix of seed products to plant within a land base comprising a plurality of fields controlled by the producer, the software comprising:

instructions on the computer readable medium for providing a first screen display adapted for identifying the plurality of fields controlled by the producer and a size of each of the plurality of fields;

instructions on the computer readable medium for associating a risk tolerance level with the producer, wherein the risk tolerance level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the producer is willing to take for at least one seed product;

instructions on the computer readable medium for providing a second screen display adapted for displaying performance of a plurality of seed products over a range of environment classes;

instructions on the computer readable medium for providing a reporting mode adapted for reporting which one or more of the plurality of seed products to plant within each of the plurality of fields based at least in part on the risk tolerance level associated with the producer.

57. The article of software of claim 56 further comprising means to electronically communicate information to an invoicing system.

58. A method of planting seed products by a crop producer associated with a land base, each of the seed products having a genotype, the method comprising:

associating a risk tolerance level with the crop producer;

characterizing the land base by selecting an environmental profile for the land base from a set of a plurality of environmental profiles;

determining a recommendation of at least one seed product to plant within the land base based on the environmental profile, the risk tolerance level associated with the crop producer, and performance of the genotype of each of the seed products in the environmental profile, wherein the risk tolerance level comprises information associated with a variable amount of risk the crop producer is willing to take for at least one seed product, and wherein the recommendation being formed without data for performance of each of the seed products within the land base;

providing an output comprising identification of the at least one seed product to plant within the land base;

obtaining seeds that match the identification; and

planting the obtained seeds on the land base.