Dairy.com announced it has earned a ranking on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America.

AMPLI-Calf Tanbark Challenge, the annual show ring sweepstakes sponsored by Land O’Lakes Purina Feed, has announced four winners from this years’ competitive group of calves. Those exhibiting AMPLI-Calf-fed spring calves at the 2011 All-American Dairy Show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin, or the North American International Livestock Exposition held in Louisville, Kentucky, were eligible to participate.

Select Sires Inc. has completed the new Calf Campus facility located near Plain City, Ohio. During the summer of 2011, construction began to develop two state-of-the-art facilities that will foster bull calf health and growth at Select Sires. The bio-secure campus will be home to nearly 150 calves when it is fully occupied.

Michigan high school and college students who are interested in pursuing a career in the dairy industry have until Jan. 6 to apply for the 2012 Michigan Dairy Ambassador Scholarship and Leadership Program. The annual program, now in its seventh year, awards two scholarships, one to a junior winner and another to a senior winner. The senior division is reserved for college students up to age 22, and the winner receives a $1,500 scholarship. The junior division is limited to high school students in grades 9 to 12, and the winner goes home with $1,000 that can be applied toward higher education or purchasing a dairy animal within the upcoming year. Money raised during auctions held annually during the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference (GLRDC) funds the scholarship.

The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has initiated a project to revise its standard for agricultural machine belt drives. ASAE S211.5, V-Belt And V-Ribbed Belt Drives for Agricultural Machines, is being updated to reflect latest industry technology and harmonize the content with Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) and ISO standards.

The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) calls on ninth-grade to 12th-grade students to submit an original, 450-word essay or a two-minute video essay about the importance of agriculture. This year's theme is "American Agriculture: Feeding the Future, Filling the Gaps" and the deadline is Feb. 1, 2012. The ACA asks teachers and parents to encourage student participation.

USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) announces the availability of a newly created website titled: Rural Tax Education (ruraltax.org) providing farmers and ranchers a resource for agricultural related income and self-employment tax information that is both up-to-date and easy to understand. “Farmers and ranchers wanting up-to-date tax information will want to put the Rural Tax Education website in their list of browser favorites,” said Dave Paul, director of RMA’s Spokane Regional Office serving Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington states.

Wieser Concrete Products, Inc. of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, announces the addition of another precast production facility. Located 35 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri, at 4419 Wagon Wheel Road, Roxana, Illinois, the Wieser Concrete Roxana facility includes 32,000 square feet of production space on 31 acres, and will produce the entire line of Wieser Concrete’s quality precast products.

Bovance announced the second year of its youth scholarship program, which was won by Brent Sexton from Iowa in 2011. This $1,000 scholarship is open to high school seniors and college students in their first or second year of undergraduate study in an agriculture related field.

Foremost Farms USA will offer up to 10 scholarships worth $2,000 each to member-owners and the children of member-owners in 2012. The Agricultural Education Scholarships will be awarded to students who are pursuing a career in the agricultural field.