equipped with a measuring device for the measurement of components in and or properties of harvested crop that is conveyed along a path and or along which the measuring device is moved the measuring device is an optical spectroscope which operates in the visible wavelength range and or in the near infrared wavelength range measurements made are used to determine the amount of particular organic components contained in the harvested crop such as carbohydrates organic substances that can be dissolved in enzymes oil and raw protein and to determine the amount of non organic components contained in the harvested crop such as minerals for example sodium and magnesium or water further parameters of the harvested crop are also measured including solid matter and raw fiber content length of fibers caloric or energy content digestibility and color application_number US 57331700 A description referring now to fig1 there is shown a harvesting arrangement in the form of a crop harvesting machine 10 here illustrated as a self propelled forage harvester including a chassis 12 supported by front and rear sets of wheels 14 and 16 respectively the operation of the harvesting machine 10 is controlled from a driver 39 s cabin 18 from which a crop material intake device that is coupled to the front of the chassis 12 can be easily seen by means of the crop material intake device 20 which is a row independent corn cutter in this embodiment material picked up from the ground such as corn grass or the like is fed to a chopping drum 22 which chops it into small pieces and transfers it to a conveyor arrangement 24 the crop leaves the harvesting machine 10 to an accompanying trailer not shown through.