THE Business for Sale Marketplace

For many years visual inspection of grain quality has been performed by a subjective human eye. The company involved has developed an instrument to objectively assess and analyze quality of grain by means of digital image analysis, and is intended for use by the grain merchant at the point of sale by the farmer, and by food processors that use grain in any commercial way. The instrument uses a modified desktop scanner to image a tray containing a sample of grain. The high-resolution color image is transmitted to a PC where it is analyzed. The results are obtained and displayed on the screen, and saved in a disk file. From there they can be exported to databases or spreadsheets. Currently, the instrument analyzes wheat, barley, corn and rice. For Wheat, Barley and rice, the instrument analyses the image and calculates among other things the following: Average Kernel Length, Average Kernel Width, Average Kernel Thickness, Average Area, Aspect Ratio, Roundness, Number of whole seeds, Thousand Kernel Weight, Thousand Kernel Weight, Test Weight, Dockage, Blackpoint, Discolored Kernels. For Corn the program calculates the following quantities: Number of whole kernels in sample, Thousand kernel weight, Dockage percent, Broken Kernel percent, Chipped Kernel percent, Screening equivalents, Color, Dent, Red streaks, Crown, Horneous Endosperm, Stress Cracks, The system is very versatile and can easily be adapted to new types of grain. There is no change required in the cabinet from one grain type to another or any refocusing between grain types. The company has two patents, one on a counting algorithm, and another on a special tray that allows three dimensional measurements of the grain. Some of the main advantages of the instrument are: accurateness, ability to handle dockage, low manufacturing cost ($700 – $1,000), the fact that the same instrument can handle all types of grain, the usage of a modified low cost - high resolution scanner.