Wednesday,  July 11, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 363 • 19 of 27 •  Other Editions

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• Bill Kluck, a rancher from Mud Butte, said he also believes the fee increase is premature. He said he wants more assurances that the board has taken steps to be more efficient and provide better information to the public.
• When the Brand Board approved the 10-cent increase in June, some board members said they were worried it might not be sufficient to support the program if cattle are sold during the drought and sales drop in future years after the herds are depleted. Fewer sales would result in fewer inspection fees paid.
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Thune urges opening CRP acres to haying, grazing

• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Sen. John Thune is asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to release Conservation Reserve Program acres for emergency haying

and grazing in South Dakota because of continuing drought conditions.
• The South Dakota Republican sent a letter to the secretary on Monday saying a dry spring, higher than normal temperatures and lack of rainfall have resulted in short hay supplies and pastureland in areas of the state as low as only 25 percent of normal carrying capacity.
• Thune says opening a portion of South Dakota's more than 1.1 million CRP acres could help alleviate the worsening shortage for the state's ranchers.
• He says such emergency action has been permitted for CRP acres in South Dakota in the past due to drought conditions.
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AP News in Brief
Mitt Romney to make pitch to black voters at NAACP annual convention

• HOUSTON (AP) -- Mitt Romney isn't going to win the black vote. But he's making a pitch to African-Americans at the NAACP's annual meeting, giving a major speech that's also aimed at showing independent and swing voters that he's willing to reach out to diverse audiences -- and demonstrating that his campaign and the Republican Party he leads are inclusive.
• Romney's advisers say he plans to focus, as he usually does, on the economy. The 14.4 percent unemployment rate among blacks is much higher than the 8.2 percent national average. He's also likely to mention his plan to increase school choice -- he's called education the "civil rights issue of our era."
• It's a difficult sell -- 95 percent of blacks backed President Barack Obama in

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