The partnership, which is well established in Europe, will introduce a new management solution based on it's M3 Food and Beverage software - M3 stands for "make, move, and manufacture.

The system is developed specifically for the farming and production stages involved with of the beef, pork, poultry, and fish industries.

"Livestock producers are seeing a tremendous amount of pressure in the marketplace, from pricing pressures to the need for more globalisation," said Rob Wiersma, industry strategy director for Lawson. "They need powerful software solutions that will give them visibility and control across their entire value chain to allow them to compete, grow and manage increasingly challenging international regulations in a highly competitive global marketplace."

The effects of consolidation, global trading, governmental regulation, and large retail chains are squeezing profits and increasing the demands on efficiency - and greater computerisation is part of this.

Livestock operations face a number of business challenges that are forcing lower prices and require reliable and flexible delivery of large volumes of uniform-quality products. Also, these operations are subject to a wide variety of food safety laws and regulations that can vary by jurisdiction.

"We believe we can help livestock producers be much more effective in running their businesses," says Knut Eikeland, CEO of Mercatus, which has offices in Norway, Scotland, and Chile.

The livestock solution system aligns inventory with customer orders, reacts to changing marketplace demands, and is also used to track quality and production issues throughout the growth and production stages of salmon operations.

For further details visit: www.Lawson.com