Mobile tobacco receiving station

Abstract

A system, method, computer program product, and mobile receiving station for receiving and processing leaf tobacco at a location of a tobacco farmer, including processing the tobacco leaf at the location, including means for weighing and grading of the received tobacco leaf and, optionally, determining moisture content and transmitting information relating to the optionally determined moisture content, the weight, and the grade of the received tobacco leaf to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.

1 . A method of facilitating tobacco purchasing from a tobacco farmer, the method comprising:
 providing a mobile leaf tobacco receiving station for receiving tobacco leaf bales at a location of the tobacco farmer;   determining bale weight and tobacco leaf grade for the received tobacco leaf bales at the location of the tobacco farmer;   optionally determining moisture content at the location of the tobacco farmer; and   transmitting information relating to the determined bale weight, tobacco leaf grade, and optionally determined moisture content, of the received tobacco leaf bales from the mobile receiving station to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising issuing funds to the tobacco farmer based on the determined moisture content, bale weight, and tobacco leaf grade of the received tobacco leaf bales. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the communications link comprises a wireless communications link. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the wireless communications link comprises a satellite communications link. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile receiving station comprises a truck having a trailer and a toter. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the trailer includes a loading ramp and an off loading ramp. 
     
     
         7 . A computer program product for facilitating tobacco purchasing from a tobacco farmer via a mobile leaf tobacco receiving station for receiving tobacco leaf at a location of a tobacco farmer, including one or more computer readable instructions embedded on a tangible computer readable medium and configured to cause one or more computer processors to perform the steps of:
 determining bale weight and tobacco leaf grade for the received tobacco leaf bales at the location of the tobacco farmer;   optionally determining moisture content at the location of the tobacco farmer; and   transmitting information relating to the determined bale weight, tobacco leaf grade, and optionally determined moisture content, of the received tobacco leaf bales from the mobile receiving station to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.   
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 7 , further comprising issuing funds to the tobacco farmer based on the determined moisture content, bale weight, and tobacco leaf grade of the received tobacco leaf bales. 
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 7 , wherein the communications link comprises a wireless communications link. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the wireless communications link comprises a satellite communications link. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 7 , wherein the mobile receiving station comprises a truck having a trailer and a toter. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein the trailer includes a loading ramp and an off loading ramp. 
     
     
         13 . A system for facilitating tobacco purchasing from a tobacco farmer, the system comprising:
 a mobile leaf tobacco receiving station for receiving tobacco leaf bales at a location of a tobacco farmer;   means for determining bale weight, tobacco leaf grade and, optionally, moisture content, for the received tobacco leaf bales; and   means for transmitting information relating to the determined bale weight, tobacco leaf grade and, optionally, determined moisture content, of the received tobacco leaf bales from the mobile receiving station to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , further comprising means for issuing funds to the tobacco farmer based on the determined moisture content, bale weight, and tobacco leaf grade of the received tobacco leaf bales. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the communications link comprises a wireless communications link. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the wireless communications link comprises a satellite communications link. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the mobile receiving station comprises a truck having a trailer and a toter. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the trailer includes a loading ramp and an off loading ramp. 
     
     
         19 . A mobile receiving station for receiving and processing leaf tobacco at a location of a tobacco farmer, the mobile receiving station comprising:
 means for determining bale weight, tobacco leaf grade and, optionally, moisture content, for the received tobacco leaf bales at the location of the tobacco farmer; and   means for transmitting information relating to the determined bale weight, tobacco leaf grade and, optionally, determined moisture content, of the received tobacco leaf bales from the mobile receiving station to a tobacco product manufacturing facility over a communications link.   
     
     
         20 . The mobile receiving station of  claim 19 , further comprising means for issuing funds to the tobacco farmer based on the determined moisture content, bale weight, and tobacco leaf grade of the received tobacco leaf bales. 
     
     
         21 . The mobile receiving station of  claim 19 , wherein the communications link comprises a wireless communications link. 
     
     
         22 . The mobile receiving station of  claim 21 , wherein the wireless communications link comprises a satellite communications link. 
     
     
         23 . The mobile receiving station of  claim 19 , wherein the mobile receiving station comprises a truck having a trailer and a toter. 
     
     
         24 . The mobile receiving station of  claim 23 , wherein the trailer includes a loading ramp and an off loading ramp. 
     
     
         25 . A method for reducing costs of tobacco selling and buying, the method comprising:
 moving a tobacco receiving station to a location of a tobacco farmer for receiving tobacco leaf at the location of the tobacco farmer;   determining weight, grade and, optionally, moisture content, for the received tobacco leaf bales of the received tobacco leaf via the receiving station; and   paying the farmer for the received tobacco leaf based on the determined moisture content, weight, and grade of the received tobacco leaf.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the step of determining grade of the received tobacco leaf is conducted in the presence of the tobacco farmer, enabling the tobacco farmer to receive direct feedback that may be used to improve a future tobacco crop.