Nearly 29,000 comments have been received so far on the proposed Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) rule and today is the deadline for those who will be affected by the rule to make comments.

As it says on the Regulations.gov page to submit comments, this is “Your Voice in Federal Decision Making.” Since this is a regulatory action, it is not being voted on by Congress, so submitting comments is the only way to let regulators know the opinion of those who will be impacted by the rule. It’s also important that it really be YOUR voice, not a form letter. As Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently said about the comments on GIPSA, “There’s a difference between 16,000 unique comments and 16,000 comments of which a substantial number of them are basically form letters.”

It really couldn’t be easier to do. Just click here and type in your contact info and comments and it goes right to the Federal Register. You are able to view the comments that others have made on the rule and your comments will also be available for others to see.

What happens after today? The agency has a period of time to evaluate the comments received and then decide whether the proposal will be withdrawn, amended or implemented as is. We’ll keep you posted.