SD Brand Board approves increase in livestock fee to 90 cents

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PIERRE (AP) — A state board has approved a scaled-back plan to raise the fee for brand inspections that are used to prevent the theft of cattle and horses in western South Dakota.

The Brand Board voted unanimously Wednesday to increase the fee from 80 cents to 90 cents a head.

The board had voted in March to increase the fee to $1, but the panel scrapped that plan when Gov. Dennis Daugaard urged the board to seek a compromise after livestock groups and other associations objected.

The 10-cent-a-head increase in inspection fees is intended to cover the agency's costs for about three years.

The program inspects brands on about 1.5 million head of livestock each year when the cattle or horses are sold, slaughtered or moved out of western South Dakota.

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