System and methods for real time linkage between harvest environment and marketplace

A method of directly linking a harvest environment with a marketplace determining the nutrient requirements of a specific location in an agricultural field comprising:

• harvesting a crop from said specific location;
• evaluating, automatically and via an electromechanical optical device, at least one property of said crop contemporaneously and continually with the havesting process, said evaluating occurring on the move and in real-time;
• correlating, automatically via a computer, said evaluation between the qualities of the crop and the specific location of the crop in the agricultural field where harvested;
• and
• converting, from the crop itself, at least one of the properties measured from the harvesting of the crop into a nutrient requirement for future fertilizing or improvement of said location in said agricultural field, said converting allowing a user to ascertain nutrient content and requirements in a single consolidated method particularized to a specific agricultural field, thus providing substantially greater fertilizer accuracy for that agricultural field automatically transacting with said crop from said harvest environment based on said at least one property through an electronic link with said marketplace.

An apparatus for harvesting and transacting the simultaneous sale of a crop, said apparatus comprising:

• a crop harvesting apparatus;
• an automatic, real-time crop evaluation device;
• a computing device;
• a direct wireless communications link between the computing device and a market;
• wherein at least one property of said crop is evaluated contemporaneously and continuously on the move and with the harvesting of the crop, and wherein said evaluation device reports said evaluation to said computing device;
• wherein said computing device automatically transmits to a market directly through said wireless communications link said property to interested parties in the market contemporaneously with the harvesting of the crop;
• wherein said computing device automatically transacts for a sale of the harvested crop;
• and
• wherein said computing device and said communications link, after completing a sale, indicate to the user of the harvesting mechanism the final destination for the crop as it is being harvested.

A system for transacting a sale of a crop comprising:

• a crop harvesting device;
• a real-time crop evaluating device coupled with said harvesting device for substantially and continuously evaluating at least one property of said crop while on the move during the harvesting process;
• a communications and computing device located on said harvesting device said communications and computing devices being capable of automatically communicating, without human intervention, at least one property of the crop being harvested and receiving a purchase order for said crop;
• and
• at least one computerized crop buying device, remote to said harvesting device, said at least one crop buying device being in direct communications with the computing device onboard the harvesting device so that a buyer operating said computerized crop buying device is continuously aware of at least one property of the crop being harvested so that said buyer is able to make an informed purchasing decision and communicate the purchasing decision directly to the computing device on said harvesting device.

A communications network for communicating between a harvest environment directly to a marketplace said network comprising:

• a crop harvesting device;
• a real-time crop evaluating device coupled with said harvesting device for evaluating at least one property of said crop contemporaneously and while on the move with the harvesting of said crop;
• a communications and computing device located on said harvesting device and coupled to said real-time evaluating device, said communications and computing device being capable of directly communicating, without human intervention, the said at least one property of the harvested crop to a crop buying device and directly and without human intervention receiving a request to purchase said crop;
• and
• at least one computerized crop buying device, remote to said harvesting device, said at least one crop buying device being in direct and uninterrupted communication with said communications and computing device, such that said a buyer operating said at least one crop buying device is aware of said at least one property, thus enabling said buyer to make an informed purchase decision and communicate, directly through the computing device, a purchase request.