Twice a week, Gabriel Cellerini waits on the sidewalk while his bus driver goes through the ritual. Gia Engel runs antiseptic wipes over every surface the 4-year-old might touch as he enters the bus: the door handle, the hand rail, the front, back and sides of his seat. Of the preschoolers who attend the Early Childhood Special Education class at the Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District headquarters, Gabriel is the first one on Engel's route. To further minimize contamination, she makes sure he sits in the same seat each day.

Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company said recently it is buying Argentine farm operator Fondomonte S.A. for $83 million to secure access to a supply of animal feed. The acquisition will give Riyadh-based Almarai Co. control of roughly 30,000 acres of farmland in the South American nation just ahead of tough new limits likely to be imposed by Argentina's government on foreign ownership of productive land. Almarai said the deal is in line with the desert kingdom's policy of "securing supplies and conserving local resources."

While fresh demographic information on U.S. farmers won't be available until after the next agricultural census is done next year, there are signs more people in their 20s and 30s are going into farming: Enrollment in university agriculture programs has increased, as has interest in farmer-training programs. For example, Utah State University officials say its agricultural school is outpacing other departments in student growth. The Logan Herald Journal reports (http://bit.ly/tBUi4W) that over the past three years, the College of Agriculture has seen the highest percentage increase in the number of enrolled students.

Missouri cropland is so dry from last summer's extreme heat and lack of rainfall that University of Missouri researchers said the state would need 13 feet of snow this winter to make up for it. That's probably not going to happen, though, and The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/rHcs1g) reported Sunday that the lack of moisture could soon have an impact on consumers.

The Federal Trade Commission says it is taking another look at guidelines designed to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods to kids after Congress delayed the effort. The voluntary guidelines proposed by the government earlier this year set maximum levels of fat, sugars and sodium and ask food companies not to market foods that go beyond those levels to children ages 2 through 17. That could limit colorful cartoon characters on cereal packages, television ads and product websites.

Dairy producers will learn how to protect what they’ve worked for and how to provide a pathway for the success of the next generation during a series of three upcoming World Class webinars offered by Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin. Dates for the webinars are Jan. 9, Feb. 6 and March 5. All three of the webinars will be on a Monday, start at noon CST and last for 60 minutes.

Designing and managing dairy feed and water systems will be the topic of the next session of the Technology Tuesdays webinar series offered by the Penn State Extension Dairy Team. The webinar will be held Jan. 10 from 8:30 to 10 a.m., Eastern time, free of charge.

Midwest Dairy Association’s Minnesota Division District annual meetings begin Jan. 5, in conjunction with county American Dairy Association (ADA) meetings. The meetings are designed to bring dairy producers up to date on activities and results from their dairy promotion checkoff program. At each meeting, a district producer director for the Minnesota Division of Midwest Dairy will provide a report and answer questions.

Ten young people were honored Nov. 5 for their accomplishments in the National Jersey Youth Achievement Contest. The contest recognizes outstanding achievement by junior Jersey breeders in four areas: work with Registered Jerseys, related dairy activities, relative progress and future goals. They were selected from 17 outstanding youth nominated by state Jersey associations, based on their cumulative record through Dec. 31, 2010.