REDACTED-1F FAR-13.5-Single-Source-or-Brand-Name-Justification-Exceeding-SAT-Nov-2024 (Kynetec 2025) 7.25.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification under

Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items (FAR 13.5) Control No. Requisition

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity.

1a. Requesting Activity Agency: United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Economist, Office of Pest Management 1400 Independence Avenue SW Room 4048-S Washington DC 20250

1b. Contracting Activity: United States Department of Agriculture Departmental Administration, Office of Contracting and Procurement, Procurement Operations Division, 355 E Street SW, 10th Floor, Mail Stop 9307, Washington, DC 20024.

2. The nature and/or description of the action being approved.

The USDA, Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) proposes to enter into a sole source, Firm Fixed price contract to the Kynetec USA Inc (KUI) to negotiate in accordance with Federal Aquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 13.5.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

Background of needed services is Office of Pest Management Policy advocates for American farmers and ranchers, by actively working to protect their access to pesticides and minimize regulatory burden by ensuring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) pesticide regulatory actions are grounded in sound science and consider grower input and practices.

Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) intends to award a firm fixed price contract to Kynetec USA Inc (KUI). to provide the FarmTrak Package to effectively advocate for farmers using the specialized quantitative data provided in the package. Kynetec FarmTrack is recognized as valid by EPA, who currently uses the data to inform their regulatory decisions. OPMP's access to this data set is of great importance when advocating for Farmers and Ranchers. In addition, access to the Kynetec FarmTrak dataset allows OPMP to obtain pesticide usage information from a large, statistically representative, number of growers about pest management needs and pesticide usage in a wide variety of crops and growing conditions across the U.S. KUI will be required to provide FarmTrak Package for 10 users. The USDA, Office of the Chief Economist’s Office of Pest Management Policy (OPMP) advocates for American farmers and ranchers, by actively working to protect their access to pesticides and minimize regulatory burden by ensuring the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) pesticide regulatory actions are grounded in sound science and consider grower input and practices.

The scope of this requirement is to provide OPMP 10 logins, to access the 2025 FarmTrak Package.

This entails access to FarmTrak pesticide usage data from 1998-2024 (adding access to two additional years of usage data, 2023 and 2024). The FarmTrak dataset includes pesticide usage data for all major pesticide types (Herbicides, Insecticides/ Miticide, Fungicides, Soil Fumigants/ Nematicides, and Growth Regulators) for approximately sixty (60) field and specialty crops, access to the i-map tool, and training sessions for i-map users as needed, during the Period of Performance August 2025-August 2026. Also included are the Percent Crop Treated datasets for 1998-2024.

Access to data years 1998 through 2024 will bring OPMP up to date with the most recent FarmTrak data available from Kynetec and allow OPMP to account for changes in pesticide usage that may have occurred due to recent regulatory changes or shifts in pest pressure.

4. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

41 U.S.C § 1901 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures up to $7.5 million, as authorized by FAR 13.500(a) and implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

5. Supporting rationale demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor or the nature of the action requiring the use of the authority.

The Kynetec dataset is unique and the most comprehensive available source of information about U.S. growers’ pesticide usage and pest management decisions. Kynetec FarmTrak contains unique data elements including target pest, application method, application timing, product costs, and seed trait information, which are not included in any other available sources of U.S. pesticide usage data (e.g., NASS Chem Use Surveys). These variables are crucial to OPMP’s understanding of pesticide benefits and impacts of proposed registration changes. Kynetec holds the copyright to this data and is the only source determined capable of supplying OPMP's requirements for immediate and complete access for USDA users to Kynetec content.

For over six decades, Kynetec (and its legacy companies Doane Marketing Research and GFK) have tracked agricultural chemical usage at the farm gate level in the U.S., and in the process have developed long-standing relationships with a sizable panel of respondents and the support of the agrochemical industry, that is nearly impossible to replicate. Since 1998, Kynetec's FarmTrak survey (formerly AgroTrak) has captured annual pesticide usage data for all major pesticide types (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, plant growth regulators, and nematicides) on approximately 60 specialty and row crops in the continental U.S. Kynetec’s survey frames are designed to produce results that are statistically representative of pesticide usage on the majority of U.S. crop acreage.

To develop their sample frame, estimate the number of farms, the acreage cultivated, and the geographical locations of farmers for each crop, Kynetec utilizes the US Ag Census, USDA crop acreage reports, and annual state-generated agricultural crop statistics. FarmTrak is data projected at the state and/or CRD level to produce results that are representative of the universe of all crop farmers in the geographies. To minimize reporting errors, Kynetec uses a variety of multi-level data evaluations. Kynetec’s track record of producing robust quality data production has made Kynetec FarmTrak the widely recognized gold standard source of U.S. agricultural pesticide usage data, which is widely used by the private sector, other federal entities like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and The U.S. Geological Service (USGS), and the academic community.

Sources of robust, nationally representative, agricultural pesticide usage data are severely limited.

Currently, there is only one other similar data source, NASS Chem Use Surveys. There are several key differences between NASS Chem Use and Kynetec FarmTrak surveys that make the NASS Chem Use data alone unable to meet OPMP’s needs and thus make access to Kynetec data uniquely valuable to OPMP. Kynetec surveys include several critical variables that are not covered by NASS Chem Use surveys, including target pest, application method, application timing, costs, and seed trait information. Kynetec conducts surveys on all crops annually, whereas NASS surveys crops on a rotating basis, which results in multi-year gaps in data for individual crops (as much as eight years between surveys for some crops). Kynetec allows for custom variable combination queries using its i-map tool, which allows users to explore relationships between different variables and aggregate data without double counting. In contrast, NASS Chem Use data are only available as static datasets that often cannot be aggregated without double counting. While NASS Chem Use alone does not meet OPMP’s data needs, having access to these two independent datasets, and the ability to compare their data, allows for greater confidence in the outputs of both.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable.

Kynetec is the only know source of this dataset. Previously, OPMP was approached by AGDATA, they do not have a dataset, they offered to create one if they were paid to do so.

7. A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The anticipated cost to the Government will be determined fair and reasonable based on multiple factors such as historical pricing on 12314422P0098 and 12314424P0079. It is the exact work.

USDA will request catalog pricing and/or list pricing. In closing, the CO will ensure to include a statement of price reasonableness in the contract file based off one or more of the following:

•Market research;

•Comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases;

•Current price lists, catalogs, or advertisements. However, inclusion of a price in a price list, catalog, or advertisement does not, in and of itself, establish fairness and reasonableness of the price;

•Comparison to an independent Government estimate; or

•Any other reasonable basis- All methods confirmed that only one source was available. The data provided is proprietary to the vendor.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason Market Research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted which included analyzing previous purchases of similar/identical acquisitions, examining published catalog prices, and having conversations with vendors. All methods confirmed that only one source was available. The data provided is proprietary to the vendor.

In addition, POD Reviewed historical documentation for 12314422P0098 and 12314424P0079 and conducted a review of AGDATA, since they expressed interest in past similar procurements. The AGDATA website has limited information and does not speak to having a dataset available. They are a database management company. In addition, AGDATA has been inactive on SAM.gov since August 17, 2006, and has no active awards. As where, USASpending.gov data shows 14 Kynetec prime awards to USDA, EPA, and DOI from 2014-current, the last award being to DOI on March 21, 2024.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition.

Kynetec holds the copyright to this data and is the only source determined capable of supplying OPMP's requirements for immediate and complete access for USDA users to Kynetec content.

OPMP needs robust, up to date, information about the usage of pesticides and their costs in order to understand the potential impacts of proposed pesticide mitigations, provide suggestions of alternative solutions to reduce pesticide risk, and effectively advocate for American farmers and ranchers continued access to necessary pesticide tools. As previously mentioned, sources of robust, nationally representative, agricultural pesticide usage data are severely limited, and no other source currently exists that provides the coverage, quality, and full range of data elements provided by Kynetec. Access to the Kynetec FarmTrak dataset allows OPMP to obtain information from a large, statistically representative, number of growers about pest management needs and pesticide usage practices in a wide variety of crops and growing conditions across the U.S. that would be infeasible to gather from other sources. OPMP has successfully used Kynetec pesticide usage data since 2020, and these data have been a critical component of many of our comments and discussions with EPA, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Losing access to FarmTrak data would severely constrain OPMP’s ability to understand how pesticides are being used in the field and thus severely limit our capacity to efficiently and defensibly comment on the benefits of pesticides and potential impacts of EPA-proposed changes in allowable uses, which could result in overly restrictive regulations for pesticide use or outright pesticide cancelations, costing farmers access to critical pest management tools. Because of its unique and comprehensive nature, FarmTrak data serves as an irreplaceable input in OPMP analyses.

10. A listing of the sources, if any, that expressed a written interest in the acquisition.

Kynetec USA Inc. has expressed interest in continuing to provide this dataset.

11. A statement of actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition if subsequent acquisitions are anticipated.

USDA will continue to evaluate available products/services on the market and will continue to choose the most efficient, secure and cost-effective option for OPMP. If Kynetec no longer meets the Government's performance requirements or new data sources become available, the Government will review the cost for changing brands and opening competition.

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