United States Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Marketing Service

Federal Grain Inspection Service

Criteria & Specifications July 1, 2015

Distribution: Industry Originating Office: Technology and Science Division

ATTACHMENT A: 

MOISTURE METER AUTOMATED DATA COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS

Contents

1. PURPOSE ...........................................................................................................................2

2. TRANSMISSION REQUIREMENT AND FILE STRUCTURE .............................................2

3. FILE CONTENT ....................................................................................................................2

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Attachment A: Moisture Meter Automated 

Data Collection Requirements

Effective July 1, 2015

Page 2

1. PURPOSE 

This document specifies the technical requirements, information collected and order the

information should be transmitted for automatically capturing and storing data from the 

Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) approved moisture meter(s). This document 

supports FGIS Directive 9290.16, “Inspection Data Warehouse (IDW) for Grain Program 

Services,” and the data required for moisture and test weight per bushel (National Type 

Evaluation Program, NTEP, only) calibration maintenance which is a requirement for 

FGIS approval as a Unified Grain Moisture Algorithm (UGMA) – Compatible moisture 

meter, UGMA Criteria and Checklist Ver 5 2015.pdf.

2. TRANSMISSION REQUIREMENT AND FILE STRUCTURE 

The manufacturer is responsible for configuring the meter to transmit the fields in 

the order listed in Attachment 1. Each instrument will be shipped with a package that 

includes a cable necessary to transfer data from the instrument to the workstation using 

either an RS-232 serial or USB format, as well as complete instructions on connection 

and configuration of the instrument to transmit the required data fields.

The data must be transmitted in real time. All fields are delimited with Pipe (|) and no 

tabs. If a field does not contain data, then a double quote (“”) must be transmitted for 

that field. Data types are character, integer, decimal, and memo. For purposes of this 

document, integer and decimal are not binary: they are ASCII strings representing valid 

integer and decimal numbers.

The meter operating system shall recognize the standard barcode and/or QR code 

formats for user inputs.

FGIS is responsible for obtaining the software package on the receiving computer that 

prepares the data for transferring to either a database within FGIS Online or designated 

laboratory information management system.

3. FILE CONTENT

Attachment 1 contains the required fields to be transmitted from the approved moisture 

meter(s), field name (used by FGIS), format, length, field definition and the order the 

fields are to be transmitted. Attachment 2 contains the standardized grain names and 

the abbreviations used in FGIS Online (IDW). The moisture meter(s) are required to 

transmit the required fields beginning July 1, 2015 on the meters located at the FGIS 

National Grain Center.

FGIS will notify the manufacturers of the approved moisture meters when all moisture 

meters within the official inspection system will be required to transmit the data per 

this document. FGIS anticipates providing the manufacturers with a one year advance 

notice for this requirement.
Attachment A: Moisture Meter Automated 

Data Collection Requirements

Effective July 1, 2015

Page 3

Attachment 1. Delimited Field Definitions

Order Field Name Format Length Value Definition

1 Sample ID* (ID) Char 16 FGIS generated ID entered either 

manually or by barcode

2 Operator*, + Char 10 Licensed inspector number, entered 

either manually or barcode

3 Date Char 8 YYYYMMDD Date of analysis

4 Time Char 8 HH:MM:SS Time of analysis, 24 hour format

5 Grain Type (Grain) Char 12 Ex. Barley 6Row

Standardized Grain Names, see 

Attachment 2, column 2 Grain Type

(Disp. Grain Name)

6 Moisture (M) Integer or

Decimal 5 xx.x or xx.xx

xx.x is for certification and xx.xx is for 

check test and calibration review in 

units of % moisture

7 Test weight (TW) Integer or

Decimal 5 xx.x or xx.xx

xx.x is for certification (for Official 

Commercial Inspection Service only)

and xx.xx is for calibration review (for 

NTEP only) in units of lb/bu

8

Sample 

Temperature

(STemp)

Integer or

Decimal 4 xx.x In units of °C

9 Calibration ID (Cal) Char 16 Ex. BAR 130415 or

20130501N

10 Serial Number (SN) Char 16 Ex. 1213693 or

1807-00810

11

Measured 

Dielectric Constant

(DC)

Decimal 5 x.xxx

Dielectric constant with unit 

normalization but without model/

grainspecific loading corrections

12

Density-Corrected

Dielectric Constant

(DCDC)

Decimal 5 x.xxx

Density-corrected dielectric constant

incorporating all unit normalization 

factors and model/grain-specific 

loading corrections

13 Sample Mass

(mass)

Integer or

Decimal 5 xxx.x In units of grams

Note: *For the July 1, 2015, deadline the current practice of either maintaining or blanking out the previous input 

is acceptable. Prior to these requirements being implemented on all moisture meters within the official inspection 

system, manufacturers will need to update their software to blank out both the

Sample ID and Operator after each analysis.

+For the July 1, 2015 deadline, the Operator output field will use double quotes (“”). Prior to these requirements 

being implemented on all moisture meters within the official inspection system, manufacturers will need to update 

their software to incorporate a user entered “Operator” field. The “Operator” field must clear after each analysis.

**If a model does not use this format for the basic measurement, then double quotes (“”) must be transmitted.
Attachment A: Moisture Meter Automated 

Data Collection Requirements

Effective July 1, 2015

Page 4

Order Field Name Format Length Value Definition

14 Grain Abbrev.

(Abbrev) Char 4 Abbreviations used in FGISOnline, see Attachment 2 column 3

15

Ambient 

Temperature

(ATemp)

Integer or

Decimal 4 xx.x In units of °C

16 Empty Cell Weight

(tare) Integer 8 xxxxxxxx Empty Cell Magnitude

17 Troubleshooting1**

(TS1) Integer 5 xxxxx

Basic measurement that is used 

to calculate measured dielectric 

constant. May be null for a specific

model.

18 Troubleshooting2**

(TS2) Integer 5 xxxxx

Basic measurement that is used 

to calculate measured dielectric 

constant. May be null for a specific

model.

19 Troubleshooting3**

(TS3)

2 doubles

or char 50

Ex.

48.0622675921036- 

5.12474945466884i

Basic measurement (complex 

number) that is used to calculate 

measured dielectric constant. May

be null for a specific model.

20 Software Version

(Ver) Char 25-50 Ex. 5.0, 2.4, 2.2

21 Error Log

Information (Log) Memo

Ex.

SAMPLE_WEIGH

T_TOO_LOW

Note: *For the July 1, 2015, deadline the current practice of either maintaining or blanking out the previous input 

is acceptable. Prior to these requirements being implemented on all moisture meters within the official inspection 

system, manufacturers will need to update their software to blank out both the

Sample ID and Operator after each analysis.

+For the July 1, 2015 deadline, the Operator output field will use double quotes (“”). Prior to these requirements 

being implemented on all moisture meters within the official inspection system, manufacturers will need to update 

their software to incorporate a user entered “Operator” field. The “Operator” field must clear after each analysis.

**If a model does not use this format for the basic measurement, then double quotes (“”) must be transmitted.
Attachment A: Moisture Meter Automated 

Data Collection Requirements

Effective July 1, 2015

Page 5

Attachment 2. Standard Grain Names and Abbreviations

Grain/Commodity Grain Type (Disp. Grain Name) Grain Abbrev.

Major (NTEP) Grains

Barley, Six-Rowed Barley 6Row SRB

Barley, Two-Rowed Barley 2Row TRB

Corn Corn C

Oats Oats O

Rice, Long Grain Rough Rice LG Ruf LRUF

Rice, Medium Grain Rough Rice MG Ruf MRUF

Sorghum Sorghum SORG

Soybeans Soybeans SB

Sunflower Seed (Oil-Type) Sunflower SF

Wheat, Durum Durum DUWH

Wheat, Hard Red Spring Wheat HRS HRS

Wheat, Hard Red Winter Wheat HRW HRW

Wheat, Hard White Wheat HW HDWH

Wheat, Soft Red Winter Wheat SRW SRW

Wheat, Soft White Wheat SW SWW

Minor (Non-NTEP) Grains

Beans, Baby Lima BN Baby Lima BLB

Beans, Black BN Black BLKB

Beans, Blackeye BN Blackeye BEB

Beans, Cranberry BN Cranberry CRAN

Beans, Kidney BN Kidney DB

Beans, Garbanzo (Chickpeas) BN Garbanzo GB

Beans, Great Northern BN Grt Nrthn GNOR

Beans, Large Lima BN Lrg Lima LLB

Beans, Pea BN Pea PEAB

Beans, Pink BN Pink PINK

Beans, Pinto BN Pinto PINT

Beans, Small Red BN Small Red SMRB

Beans, Small White BN Small Wht SWB

Beans, Yelloweye BN Yelloweye YELB
Attachment A: Moisture Meter Automated 

Data Collection Requirements

Effective July 1, 2015

Page 6

Grain/Commodity Grain Type (Disp. Grain Name) Grain Abbrev.

Buckwheat Buckwheat BUCK

Buckwheat Groats Buckwheat Gr WBWG

Canola Canola K

Flaxseed Flaxseed FLAX

Hulless Barley Barley Hless NSG

Hulless Oats Oats Hless NSG

Lentils Lentils LDF

Mustard Seed, Brown Mustard Brn MS

Mustard Seed, Oriental Mustard O MS

Mustard Seed, Yellow Mustard Y MS

Peas, Mottled Peas, Mottled MTDP

Peas, Smooth Dry Peas Smooth SGDP

Peas, Split Peas, Split SPEA

Peas, Wrinkled Dried Peas Wrinkld WRDP

Popcorn Popcorn PS

Rapeseed Rapeseed RAPE

Rice, Brewers Milled Rice BMR BMR

Rice, Brewers Milled Parboiled Rice BMRP BMR

Rice, Long Grain Brown Rice LGBR LGBR

Rice, Long Grain Brown Parboiled Rice LGBRP LGBR

Rice, Long Grain Milled Rice LGMR LGMR

Rice, Long Grain Milled Parboiled Rice LGMRP LGMR

Rice, Medium Grain Brown Rice MGBR MGBR

Rice, Medium Grain Milled Rice MGMR MGMR

Rice, Medium Grain Milled Parboiled Rice MGMRP MGMR

Rice, Screenings Milled Rice SMR SMR

Rice, Second Head Milled Rice SHMR SHMR

Rice, Second Head Milled Parboiled Rice SHMRP SHMR

Rice, Short Grain Brown Rice SGBR SGBR

Rice, Short Grain Milled Rice SGMR SGMR

Rice, Short Grain Rough Rice SG Ruf SRUF

Rye Rye RYE

Safflower Seed Safflower SAF

Sunflower Seed (Confectionary) Sunflwr Conf CSF

Triticale Triticale TRIT

Quality Control

Check Test Moisture CheckTest or Check Test CTM