AT CLOSING NEWS.

The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., and Rohm and Haas Co., Philadelphia, agree that Dow AgroSciences LLC, the Indianapolis-based Dow subsidiary, will purchase Rohm and Haas's Agricultural Chemicals business. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2001, subject to regulatory approvals. In 2000, Rohm and Haas's ag products sales were $531 million. With this acquisition, Dow AgroSciences' annual sales should approximate $3 billion annually.

Unverferth Manufacturing Co., Kalida, Ohio, has acquired certain assets of Top Air Corp., Cedar Falls, Iowa. The product lines acquired include Top Air sprayers, Parker and Ficklin grain handling products, Better Built waste handling equipment, Clay livestock systems and additional products under these brand names that are used in production agriculture. Unverferth Manufacturing is planning limited production of select products this year and will be working with customers to supply parts for previously produced products.

Data Transmission Network Corp., Omaha, Neb., announces a refined corporate vision that continues to deliver comprehensive information but in a format that is more easily understood and can immediately be put to use. "For producers, getting to the bottom line is more challenging today than ever. In our tradition of providing the most timely, proprietary agricultural information, we are refining our vision and advancing our services by analyzing and interpreting the raw data to help producers make timely decisions to manage risk and secure their income," says Neil Stapensea, director of marketing for DTN. "This refined vision is represented by our innovative new logo and tagline."

The new DTN logo design represents the multiple sources of information from which DTN gathers its data prior to analysis and DTN's ability to provide producers with streamlined, bottom-line information that is quick, easy to access and can be utilized immediately. The new tagline is "For Those Who Do."

Intervet, Boxmeer, the Netherlands, has chosen its site in DeSoto, Kan., for the construction of a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the regional R&D, production and administrative center in the U.S. Midwest. Following its recent acquisitions of Hoechst Roussel Vet, Bio-Trends International and Bayer's North American biologicals business, Intervet currently operates 12 locations in the United States. The completion of the new integrated facility in DeSoto will significantly streamline U.S. operations by enabling the number of U.S. core sites to be reduced to a total of three: DeSoto, Millsboro, Del., and Worthington, Minn. Construction of the new facility is scheduled to begin in mid-2001 and be completed by mid-2004.

The Phoenix-based Agriblend division of American Soil Technologies, Inc., San Diego, has reached a co-marketing agreement with First Amendment Company LLC, Grace, Idaho, to combine its Agriblend Plus product with First Amendment's fertilizer product. The combined product will be promoted as a fertilizer that cuts water use while improving plant growth.

Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute Inc., located in La Jolla, Calif., has changed its name to Torrey Mesa Research Institute. Formerly an institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, NADII became a subsidiary of Syngenta at the beginning of this year. "We chose the name Torrey Mesa Research Institute to reflect the outstanding discoveries and advances that have come out of the San Diego region," says Steven Briggs, Ph.D., president and CEO of TMRI. "TMRI fits right in, as we are one of the largest research institutes dedicated to agricultural genomics."