A communication system tracking information related to a baled crop (1124) formed during a baling process by a harvesting machine (16) is disclosed. The communication system comprising: a control unit (1108) for controlling the harvesting machine (16, 100, 1106)； a sensing unit (1112) mounted to the harvesting machine (16, 100, 1106) for detecting a characteristic of the baled crop (1124)； a bale tag (1126) coupled to the baled crop (1124), the bale tag (1126) including a bale tag identifier； a bale tag reader (1122) for reading the bale tag identifier on the bale tag (1126)； an electronic storage unit disposed in electrical communication with the control unit (1108)； a wireless communication network electrically coupling the control unit (1108), the sensing unit (1112), the bale tag reader (1122), and the electronic storage unit to one another； wherein, during the baling process, the control unit (1108) assigns a unique bale identifier to each baled crop (1124), and receives a characteristic detected by the sensing unit (1112) and the bale tag identifier from the bale tag reader (1122) via the wireless communication network； further wherein, the control unit (1108) communicates the bale identifier, characteristic, and bale tag identifier to the storage unit via the wireless communication network. Further a method of storing information corresponding to a baled crop (1124) during a baling process is disclosed.
