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This Sources Sought Notice is for market research and informational purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government. This procurement will be processed pursuant to FAR part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures. No solicitation will be issued. All responsible sources who believe they can provide the services listed may submit, in writing to the identified point of contact, a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which shall be considered by the Agency. Information received will be considered solely for the purposes of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Oral communications are not acceptable in response to this notice. A determination by the Government to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the Government. Responses are to be received within 5 days of this notice. No telephone calls are being accepted.

The United States Department Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) intends to negotiate and award on a sole source basis. This procurement is for ARS Plains Area location in Clay Center, Nebraska at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC). Contract type will be a Firm Fixed Price and will be awarded to The University of Nebraska. This is for purchase of 413 male calves that have the appropriate genotypic and phenotypic traits. NAICS Code is 112111. Period of performance is estimated to be 2 months from date of award.

For biosecurity reasons, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) does not allow animals to be brought onto the Center from outside sources. The University of Nebraska has had a long term cooperative relationship with USMARC on the ARS owned property. This relationship is documented in ARS agreement number 58-3040-9-011. The university herd and the ARS herd are both on this property. As a result, the university animals are the only animals that can be supplied to ARS. The U.S. Meat Animal Research center needs 413 steer calves for its research programs in genetics, breeding, meat safety, meat quality, reproduction, nutrition, and environmental management. This policy has been in place for decades and is in place to protect the animal herd that is valued at greater than $12M. This value is strictly a market value. The research value of these herds is many multiples of the market value. These 413 animals provided by the University comply with the necessary biosecurity policies and procedures in place in order to protect that substantial tax payer investment in the animal herds at USMARC. Also, the University has already collected the necessary data to move the above mentioned projects forward. The University and ARS have a close collaboration at USMARC and these animals have the necessary scientific and phenotypic information already collected on them that will allow congressionally funded research projects to move forward. These projects will not be able to move forward without these animals.

Please e-mail all inquiries regarding this sources sought notice to Amber Sampson at amber.sampson@usda.gov. All inquiries are due no later than October 18, 2023 at 4:00pm MST