Patent ID: 8019662

Claim:
A livestock inventory management system, comprising the following elements, operably connected: (a) at least one computer having at least one storage medium; (b) one or more databases residing on said at least one storage medium; (c) data collection software stored in a non-transitory storage medium providing an interface to said one or more database(s); (d) one or more unique readable identifiers accompanying a livestock animal; (e) one or more data collection locations in communication with said at least one computer, each having: (i) a reader appropriate to at least one unique identifier accompanying a livestock animal and capable of reading said at least one unique identifier, and (ii) a data measurement device; and (f) a timing device, wherein said software executes the following actions: (i) storing in said one or more databases at least one data item measured by a data measurement device and associated with the unique readable identifier for a livestock animal, captured at a first time, (ii) storing in said one or more databases at least one data item measured by a data measurement device and associated with the unique readable identifier for said livestock animal, captured at a second time, (iii) generating and outputing a report of said at least two data items, (iv) tracking a livestock inventory item and updating at least one database for (1) a customer and (2) a livestock merchant, as livestock inventory items are added to, restocked to, or removed from inventory, (v) evaluating customer inventory information and inventory or cost information for a plurality of livestock merchants of said livestock animal in light of restocking parameters provided by said customer, and (vi) automatically ordering livestock merchant inventory which best fulfills said inventory restocking parameters provided by said customer.