E-BUSINESS NEWS.

DirectAg.com, St. Paul, Minn., announces that Merial and Schering-Plough Animal Health Corp. have become new DirectAg.com e-commerce partners. Producers will now be able to purchase at DirectAg.com the full line of Merial over-the-counter livestock products as well as Schering-Plough vaccines, insecticides and Ralgro implants.

Sparks Companies Inc., Memphis, and agribiz.net, Guelph, Ontario, form a strategic alliance. The goal of the association is to deliver the optimum in food and agricultural market strategies and e-business expertise to the worldwide clients of both companies.

Rooster.com, Bloomington, Minn., is using the insight and expertise from a group of core users -- agricultural dealers and cooperatives -- to help develop the framework and build functionality into its Web site. The Dealer Advisory Board will be instrumental in developing various aspects of the site, including the Rooster

Storefront, a simple, turnkey approach that gives retail dealers, elevators and cooperatives an e-commerce presence on the Internet. Board members, will serve for 14 months and will meet regularly for intensive working sessions with Rooster.com personnel to analyze current and new offerings from the site.

Farmland Industries, Inc., Kansas City, Mo., has unveiled Farmland Dedicated Grains, an online merchandising and traceability application for trait-specific and identity-preserved grains. Dedicated Grains provides its users with data warehousing capabilities for storing and sharing detailed production and grain profile data. Technology for the Dedicated Grains Web-based program was developed by VantagePoint Network.

Agricultural Information Technologies, Iroquois, S.D., announces the formation of IdentityPreserved.com as a separate business unit IdentityPreserved.com offers product, services, systems and Internet resources to help members of the food production chain grow, handle and use IP crops and livestock.

AEI Environmental, Inc., a provider of environmental control products, has acquired CattleSale.com, the Web-based livestock marketing service. The companies will accelerate CattleSale.com's expansion into futures, nutrients, financial services and environmental service products. Operations for the firms will be based in Chicago.