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A market survey is being conducted to determine if there are adequate Small Business, SBA certified HUBZone, SBA-certified 8(a), Women-Owned, or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) contractors available for a proposed project who meet the specific criteria outlined below.

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. This is not a solicitation Announcement, Request for Quote, or Invitation for Bid. It does not constitute any commitment by the Government. No award will result from this notice. The purpose is to conduct market research to gain knowledge of potentially qualified sources and to determine the capability of Small Business and/or Large Business companies to provide the supplies/services described below. Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will be used by the Government to make an appropriate acquisition decision. Department of Agriculture requests responses from ALL socioeconomic categories in order to gain a more complete understanding of the market for these products and service.

The USDA-Dairy Forage Research Farm at Prairie du Sac, WI (PDS) requires corn silage chopping and storage services on between 160 acres and 400 acres (with around 200 acres being the normal). A 124’ x 32’ bunker will need to be packed with vendor’s packing tractor. Between 1000 and 3000 feet of bagging with a 12’ diameter self-propelled bagger. Cover crop harvesting will consist of between 0 and 200 acres.

The NAICS code applicable to this acquisition is 115112 (Soil preparation, Planting, and Cultivating) with a size standard of $8.5 million. The PSC is F006.

Any subsequent procurement will be conducted as a commercial item purchased in accordance with FAR Part 12 and as a Simplified Acquisition Procedure in accordance with FAR Part 13.

Contract requirements include:

Corn is grown at the farm for silage to feed dairy cattle. The cutting, chopping and storing of the corn silage is labor intensive, must be completed within short optimum harvest windows, and requires specific farm equipment. The vendor needs to have experience with previous corn silage harvesting to ensure appropriate kernel processing and that the fields and crops are not damaged. The farm has traditionally paid vendors for this service as we do not have the personnel or equipment to perform the work ourselves. The vendor will need to coordinate specific days for the work with Farm manager. They will assess the field conditions to determine the best days for harvesting.

The vendor must have prior experience chopping, hauling, packing, and bagging corn silage. Vendor equipment needed for corn silage harvest includes 3 forage trucks or forage wagons, packing tractor, 12 ft self-propelled bagger and a self-propelled chopper with kernel processor. For cover crop harvest, equipment includes a self-propelled forage harvester. The vendor must also apply supplied forage inoculant to each ton of forage at the chopper. The vendor must supply their own diesel fuel for their equipment.

Vendor shall be responsible for supervising all operations under their responsibility. This would include the maintenance and safety of all vendor owned equipment, supplies and personnel.

This contract is anticipated to be a Base + Four Option Year contract.

Base Year – 6/1/2023-5/31/2024

Option Year 1 – 6/1/2043-5/31/2025

Option Year 2 – 6/1/2025-5/31/2026

Option Year 3 – 6/1/2026-5/31/2027

Option Year 4 – 6/1/2027-5/31/2028

Reference the Statement of Work for additional information.

Place of Performance: USDA-Dairy Forage Research Farm at Prairie du Sac, WI

Capability Statement:

Companies who have the experience, as well as an interest in doing business with ARS, should submit a Capabilities Statement which, for this notice, is not expected to be a proposal, but rather short statements regarding the company’s ability to demonstrate their expertise and experience in relation to the areas specified in this notice.

In addition to the Capabilities Statement, companies should complete the attached Sources Sought Response Form and indicate whether they are a Small Business, SBA-certified HUBZone, SBA-certified 8(a), SDVOSB, or Women-Owned Small Business.

To be eligible, all vendors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) with a current and active registration. A SAM UEI number is required in order to register in SAM. A vendor can contact SAM by calling 1-866-606-8220 or e-mail at www.sam.gov. NO EXCEPTIONS. Vendor must include their UEI# on their capability statements.

To be eligible, all vendors must also be registered in SAM under the specific NAICS code listed as part of this sources sought. If a prospective vendor is not registered under the specified NAICS code and would qualify to be registered under it then they must update their SAM registration prior to providing a capabilities statement.

Finally, to be eligible, all vendors must be NDAA 889 Certified. If they do not currently have a NDAA 889 Certification, then they must complete the attached NDAA 889 Certification form and submit it to melissa.grice@usda.gov so that they can be added to the list of NDAA 889 Certified vendors.

Submitting a Capability Statements:

Responses should be submitted via email by Thursday, May 5, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. (Central Time). Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. Questions should be directed to Melissa Grice at melissa.grice@usda.gov.

Disclaimer:

This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Respondents are also advised that under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of information or provide feedback about any of the information received. After review of the responses received, the Government may issue a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation. No proprietary, sensitive, confidential or classified information shall be included with your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation.

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