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• The board voted 4-0 to propose the 10-cent increase. Chairman Mark Kimball of Platte abstained after saying he believes the fee should go to $1.
• "It's awful tough if you let something slip into the red," he said.
• The program inspects the brands on about 1.5 million head of livestock each year when the cattle or horses are sold, slaughtered or moved out of the inspection area that covers all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River. Most of the inspections are at local sale barns, but some are conducted at ranches for private sales or when livestock is

shipped elsewhere.
• Nathan Sanderson, a policy analyst for the governor, said Daugaard wanted a compromise to lessen the animosity between the board and livestock producers. Some of the discord is years old and stems from a 2008 decision by the state to take over inspections from the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association.
• Still, Sanderson said, the governor will support the Brand Board -- no matter what decision it makes.
• Officials of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association and the South Dakota Livestock Marketing Association, which represents local sale barns, supported the compromise at Tuesday's board meeting.
• "Divisiveness gets no one nowhere fast," said Jerry Vogeler, director of the Livestock Marketing Association. "It's time to set aside the bickering and get people to agree."

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