New England-based farm software service companies, Practical Systems and Outcross, have teamed up to take ownership of Australia's largest livestock traceability system, Livestock Exchange.
Fully-owned by farm services company, Landmark, for the past three years, Livestock Exchange is the major supplier of NLIS software technology and some hardware to saleyards, livestock companies, and selling agents in the Landmark and Elders networks.
More than 90 per cent of livestock selling centres in Australia use Livestock Exchange software to process their sales.
Its systems are also used by more than 350 agency branches to import and process data from saleyards, and for on-farm livestock sales and clearing sales.
The new joint venture owners have formed Outcross Systems to take over the Landmark business on July 1.
The deal ends Landmark's eight-year investment ties in the business which evolved with the emergence of supersized saleyard developer, Regional Infrastructure, where Landmark has also been an investor.
Practical Systems in Armidale, an unlisted public company with a trans-Tasman ownership mix, has provided rural software services, particularly to livestock producers, for more than 25 years.
We expect the combined effort of these companies will yield sustained innovation and development that will provide benefit for our wider customer base in the years to come
- Mark Morton, Practical Systems
Outcross, led by Tom Newsome, is also based in Armidale, with offices in Dalby and Blackall in Queensland.
It provides back office data collection services, technology and advice to the saleyard sector and more than 100 pastoral properties in NSW, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Practical Systems executive director, Mark Morton, said the partnership with Outcross reflected the confidence both companies had in the livestock industry's need for more market intelligence and support services from paddock to processor.
"Through this venture we are committed to supporting the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the industry by effectively deploying relevant technologies and products," he said.
"We also expect the combined effort of these companies will yield sustained innovation and development that will provide benefit for our wider customer base in the years to come.
"We see significant benefit in building livestock intelligence services to provide more practical data to producers and livestock handlers in many areas, from animal welfare to genomics and cost of carcase production."
Practical Systems and Outcross would continue to run their own independent businesses and services separately from the Livestock Exchange venture.
Practical's chief executive officer, Paul Rasmussen, said there were no near term changes expected for the business, or any impact on customers.
However, he would be likely to furnish more details about the impact and influence of the takeover to customers in weeks and months to come.
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