Ticket Based Harvest Management System and Method

Abstract

A system and method is presented for gathering data concerning harvests. Data tickets are generated when the harvest is received at a point of origination (i.e., the field), local storage, processing, or a customer location. Data tickets can be manually generated using apps running on mobile devices. Users of the mobile devices input the data tickets when harvest is received at these locations. Data tickets are transmitted to a remote server over a wide area network. Analysis of the data tickets is possible through a web interface to the remote server. Beacons that identify various equipment or locations can be used to trigger the automatic generation of data tickets.

1 . A method for tracking goods comprising:
 a) receiving, at a server computer over a network interface, a plurality of cart tickets each indicating a harvested amount of the goods removed from an origin location;   b) storing, at the server computer, the harvested amount of goods indicated by the cart tickets in a computerized database;   c) receiving, at the server computer over the network interface, a plurality of storage tickets each indicating a stored amount of the goods received at a storage location;   d) storing, at the server computer, the stored amount of goods indicated by the storage tickets in the computerized database.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein cart tickets are received concerning goods taken from a plurality of origin locations, and storage tickets are received concerning goods received at a plurality of storage locations, with data from all of the cart tickets and the storage tickets being stored in the computerized database. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the goods removed from the origin location are selected from a group consisting of lumber removed from a defined area of forest land, geological materials removed from a mine, and hydrocarbonic material removed from a well. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the goods removed from the origin location consists of an agricultural crop removed from a farm. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 e) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine the total harvested amount of crop taken from the farm;   f) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine the total stored amount of crop received at the storage location;   g) reconciling, at the server computer, by comparing the total amounts from steps e) and f).   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 e) receiving, at the server computer over the network interface, a plurality of storage to customer tickets each indicating a shipped amount of crop sent from the storage location to a customer; and   f) storing, at the server computer, the shipped amount of crop in the computerized database.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 g) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine the total stored amount of crop received at the storage location;   h) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine the total shipped amount of crop transported from the storage location to the customer;   i) reconciling, at the server computer, by comparing the total amounts from steps g) and h).   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 j) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine the total harvested amount of crop taken from the farm;   k) reconciling, at the server computer, by comparing the total amounts from steps j) and g).   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  comprising:
 l) transmitting, from the server computer to a back office computer, information from the computerized database including the results of the reconciliation of steps i) and l). 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the cart tickets received by the server computer include geographic information indicating a location where the goods were removed from the origin location, and further wherein the server computer stores this geographic information along with the harvested amount of goods in the computerized database. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the goods removed from the origin location consists of an agricultural crop removed from a farm, and further comprising:
 e) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine for the received cart tickets which field on the farm contains the location indicated by the geographic information stored in the computerized database; and   f) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine a total yield of the crop for the fields determined in step e).   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 g) receiving, at the server computer over the network interface, a plurality of field application tickets each indicating a quantity of an input applied and an input-related geographic location where the input was applied;   h) storing, at the server computer, the quantity of the input applied and the input-related geographic location indicated by the field application tickets;   i) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine for the received field application tickets which field on the farm contains the input-related geographic locations stored in the computerized database; and   j) analyzing, at the server computer, the computerized database to determine a total amount of inputs applied to the fields determined in step i).   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  comprising:
 k) comparing, at the server computer, the total yield at a particular field determined by step f) with the total amount of inputs applied to the particular field determined by step j). 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  comprising:
 l) transmitting, from the server computer to a back office computer, information from the computerized database including the total yields determined by step f) and the total amount of inputs applied determined by step j). 
 
     
     
         15 . A server computer system comprising:
 a) at least one processor for processing programming instructions;   b) a network interface for communicating with remote devices over a network;   c) a tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory;   d) a computerized database residing on the non-transitory memory; and   e) programming instructions residing on the non-transitory memory, the programming instructions instructing the processor to:
 i) receive over the network interface a plurality of cart tickets each indicating a harvested amount of crops removed from a farm, 
 ii) store in the computerized database the harvested amount of crops indicated by the cart tickets, 
 iii) receive over the network interface a plurality of storage tickets each indicating a stored amount of the crops received at a storage location, and 
 iv) store in the computerized database the stored amount of crops indicated by the storage tickets. 
   
     
     
         16 . The server computer system of  claim 15 , wherein the programming instructions further comprise:
 v) analyze the computerized database to determine the total harvested amount of crop taken from the farm,   vi) analyze the computerized database to determine the total stored amount of crop received at the storage location,   vii) reconcile, at the server computer, by comparing the total amounts from steps v) and vi),   viii) receive over the network interface a plurality of storage to customer tickets each indicating a shipped amount of crop sent from the storage location to a customer,   ix) store in the computerized database the shipped amount of crop,   x) analyze the computerized database to determine the total shipped amount of crop transported from the storage location to the customer, and   xi) reconcile by comparing the total amounts from steps vi) and x).   
     
     
         17 . The server computer system of  claim 16  wherein the programming instructions further comprise:
 xii) receive over the network interface a plurality of field application tickets each indicating a quantity of an input applied to a farm, 
 xiii) store in the computerized database the quantity of the input applied the farm indicated by the application tickets, and 
 xiv) analyze the computerized database to compare the total harvested amount of crop taken from the farm with the quantity of input applied to the farm. 
 
     
     
         18 . A method for tracking crops comprising:
 a) detecting, using a receiver at a first machine, an electromagnetic signal emanating from a second machine;   b) analyzing, using a processor, the electromagnetic signal to identify the second machine;   c) detecting, using the processor, a change in a reading for a scale on one of the first and second machines;   d) creating, using the processor, a data ticket, the data ticket including
 i) data identifying the first machine, 
 ii) data identifying the second machine, and 
 iii) data identifying the change in the reading for the scale; and 
   e) transmitting the data ticket to a remote server for storage and analysis.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the electromagnetic signal is a beacon unique to the second machine so as to allow the processor to identify the second machine by the electromagnetic signal. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein detection of the electromagnetic signal emanating from the second machine results in a communication link being established between the first and second machine through which data identifying the second machine is passed to the first machine.