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growers of crops such as corn, for which natural disasters such as floods and droughts can cause fluctuations in yields.
• "And they have to make that decision right away, so there's going to have to be a significant amount of education," Richardson said Tuesday.
• Cory Eich, president of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association, said the bill is far from perfect for ranchers, as it doesn't include language to fix concerns with country of origin labeling or live cattle marketing restrictions. But the association decided to support the legislation because its concerns were ultimately outweighed by the disaster assistance program and incentives to maintain native prairies, said Eich, a cow-calf producer from Canova.
• The bill contains cuts to the food stamp program -- $800 million a year, or around 1 percent -- for Republicans who say the program is spending too much money, but reductions are low enough that some Democrats will support them.
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• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency is providing $1.35 million in public assistance funds to Rapid City for debris clean-up from an October blizzard.
• State officials say the city is participating in a pilot program through which FEMA reimburses a greater cost share if debris removal is expedited. FEMA provides 85 percent of eligible costs for work completed within 30 days of the disaster, and 80 percent for work completed within 31 to 90 days.
• Work completed between 91 and 180 days is reimbursed at the normal 75 percent rate.
• The state of South Dakota will provide an additional $159,000, which represents 10 percent of the eligible costs. The city is responsible for the remaining 5 percent.
• The payment is the initial award under the presidential disaster declaration.
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• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A panel of federal appeals court judges says the Argus Leader newspaper can pursue data on how much retailers in the state receive from taxpayers through the food stamp program.
• The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reversed a September decision by U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier that favored the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Schreier had ruled that such data was exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.

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