03/12/2026
Farmers and friends who can support TREE HAY RESEARCH:
Signed letters of support are needed to further a USDA SAS grant proposal.
Time sensitive!
3 Streams Farm, together with Wolfe’s Neck Center cow dairy and Abraham’s goat dairy are part of a larger grant proposal which includes developing a leaf&twig harvester and conducting livestock feeding trials.
We are hoping that some of you have time to take the sample support letter below, change it however you like to make it truthful about your interest (shorter is fine), print, sign, and mail it to:
Chen DING
Assistant professor
College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
Auburn University
602 Duncan Drive | Auburn, AL 36849-5418
Tel: 334.844.1006 or 979 255 6255
I, Shana Hanson will give you huge gratitude and unlimited tree fodder phone consultation (which I already offers to you any time, anyway), if you get us such a signed letter within a week, but preferably ASAP.
(Later may also still be able to be included. The whole thing is due March 26th.)
Gratefully Yours,
Shana
SAMPLE LETTER:
(Letterhead of the farm/ association/company etc.)
Date
Ping Yu
Assistant Professor, Ornamental Specialist
Department of Horticulture
University of Georgia
1109 Experiment Street
Griffin, GA 30223
Dear Dr. Yu,
[“On behalf of __________Farm/association,” if your farm has more than one person in charge] I am writing to express [our/my] strong support for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Strenthening Agricultural Systems proposal entitled “FUELS: Forest Upcycling and Engineering Leading Systems for Feed and Biochar- Converting Forest Residues into Agricultural Commodities ”.
[Describe your farm or organization.]
This proposal addresses a critical need for our farm, and for forage-based livestock farms such as ours nationwide. [Describe your need, farms’ need for alternative forages generally but the USDA does NOT want to hear the word “climate;”and how forages derived from wood product industry wastes, particularly products with high foliar or tree leaf content, can meet that need.]
Within this proposal, Karl Hallen, Byeng Min and Shana Hanson’s production and use of a willow baleage byproduct from large acreages of field-grown biomass [is especially interesting to us, or can be particularly useful on our farm, or…]. This byproduct can benefit both the willow producers who need diversified marketing in order to re-establish income from these highly productive and resilient plantings, and the farms that can receive the willow forage to help sustain their herds. Willow is particularly palatable to animals, and willow field plantations are particularly high-yelding and resilient.
We know that our [describe your herd or animals … relish or desire, accept or want….] more tree matter; we give them ____ that we harvest on-farm, but would value a more efficient source that can provide higher quantity. We have followed the proposal team member and farmer Shana Hanson’s work for ____ years, so we know that tree leaves have higher energy content and mineral levels than grass forages, and animals also benefit from the condensed tannins plus other less-known plant compounds.
If the proposed willow baleage trials yield positive animal performance results, an immediate door will be opened to similarly use post-chipping screening to separate the leaf fraction of many tree species, for similar baled forages from multiple forest industries where woodchipping occurs. We have been [trying for years to provide tree forages to our animals, or wishing to add tree forages to the diet of our animals...or…?]. This proposal offers [a much-awaited and huge step forward? …] to get our farm needs met.
[Our animals are also interested in bark of certain tree species, and the young stock especially want fungally rotted wood fibers (Shana’s experience – say yours).] This proposal creates potential to forge countless future alliances among forest and farm industries plus academic researchers and university extension personnel, and in fact your team crosses all these professional boundaries. Such alliances can grow to provide many other nutritionally valuable animal tree-based feed inputs and support farm use of the same, in a longer time-frame beyond the current work that this team has proposed.
We are confident in the ability of yourself and the team tackling this project, as we hear from Shana Hanson how well you have been bridging the geographic challenges of team members working from many different states, with inclusive meetings, shared documents, and mutual respect and appreciation across industries/professions. You have been able to identify industrial priorities and issues, to mutually choose which new markets of forestry by-products to address within your proposal.
We are so glad to be informed of your efforts, and look forward to your great volume of science-based results regarding new tree forages. Consider us wholely in support, and please keep us updated [but not really – we will not be flooded with email].
Name,
Sign
Name of the organization/farm etc.
Address? Again? (they had it on the template here as well)
Email/phone number
* * * * * * * *
I do not check this page, so if you need to reach me please call me at 207) 338-3301. Voicemail is the best way to reach me. No texts.
