Abstract: The present invention relates to communication with remote crop characteristic sensors and verification of data transmitted therefrom. Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems, methods and apparatus for transmitting calibration data directly to a remote crop characteristic sensor and calibrating the remote sensor such that its measurements reflect accurate crop characteristics. Also comprised in embodiments of the present invention are systems, methods and apparatus for verifying remote crop sensor output. Some of these methods comprise transmitting from remote sensors crop characteristic data combined with calibration data identification so that a party can verify that the correct calibration data was used by the sensor while making the crop characteristic measurements.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for directly linking a harvest environment using precision farming techniques to the marketplace. It is a feature of this invention that properties of crops are evaluated “on-the-move,” during the harvest thereof, and are made known to users in the harvest environment to enable the real-time transaction for the sale of these crops. In a preferred embodiment, crops are harvested from an agricultural field in the harvest environment with a combine having an auger section thereon. A plurality of properties of the crops are evaluated on-the-move by flowing the harvested crops through the auger section and over an optical device. The optical device utilizes light reflected from the crops to determine the properties. Thereafter, the marketplace is searched with a computing configuration aboard the combine for a market seeking the crop properties.