It's a simple choice for dairies and other farms: take part in all environmental-related discussions or let others make decisions for you that you'll have to live with.

What may turn out to be a crucial "speak up" window of opportunity is facing U.S. agriculture now and will only stay open until October 11. That's when the public comment period ends for giving the U.S. Department of Agriculture feedback about its gigantic draft report on measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions on farms and ranches.

It is our opinion that the report is probably not just an academic exercise. Rather, it figures to be a foundation-laying precursor to governmental policy decisions that will affect how farmers can and can't manage their acreage in the future.

This is why farmer comments are so important, but giving them won't be easy. The report that USDA wants farmers to comment on is a 564-page monster. It is, to put it mildly, not easy reading. It can be download from the internet here.

Instructions on how to file a comment are available at: www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/08/27/2013-20701/science-based-methods-for-entity-scale-quantification-of-greenhouse-gas-sources-and-sinks-from