Sources Sought_Soil and Plant Analysis.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture

Research, Education, and Economics

Agricultural Research Service

THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Southeast Area Office is conducting market research to determine if there is a sufficient number of qualified Small Businesses, (i.e., small, small disadvantaged, woman-owned, Hub Zone, serviced-disabled veteran-owned small business) to set aside a Purchase Order. The USDA will use responses to this notice to make the appropriate acquisition decision. The contemplated solicitation will be issued in accordance with FAR Part 13.

The objective of this requirement is to perform chemical analysis on soil and plant tissue samples in support of the USDA’s Water Quality and Ecology Research Unit, located in Oxford, Mississippi.

The Government reserves the right to reject, in whole or in part, any contractor's input resulting from this Sources Sought. No contract will be awarded as a result of this announcement. Data submitted in response to this Sources Sought will not be returned. This request is for informational purposes only and the Government will not pay any costs associated with the preparation and submission of a response to this Sources Sought.

Soil and Plant Tissue Chemical Analysis

Requirements:

This requirement is for the Chemical Analysis of 610 Soil Samples and 796 Plant Tissue Samples in accordance with the following requirements. The samples will be dried, ground, and ready for analysis.

Soil Analysis (610 samples).

Soil analysis must be performed using the Mehlich 3 extraction method and run on an

Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) Mass Spectrometer.

Standard fertility test must include pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Magnesium (Mg), and Calcium (Ca), with Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) and percent saturation of K, Mg, and Ca.

Additional micronutrients for analyses must include Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Sulfur (S), Iron (Fe), and

Manganese (Mn).

Plant Tissue Analysis (796 samples).

Plant tissue sample analysis must be performed using an acid hot block digestion with ICP and include percentages of P, K, Ca, Mg, and S along with concentrations of Mn, Fe, Cu, Boron (B), Aluminum (Al), Zn, and Sodium (Na).

All samples will be sequentially numbered and delivered to the testing facility by USDA-ARS personnel.

The testing facility must be located within 450 miles of Oxford, Mississippi.

The contemplated solicitation will be evaluated based on the Tradeoff Process in accordance with FAR PART 13. All interested contractors who can meet the requirements stated above should respond with information describing their interest, capabilities statements, and indicate the small business category for which they qualify. E-mail responses are required. The due date for responses to this Sources Sought is at 3:00 pm Mountain Standard Time on Friday, June 23, 2023. Please email your responses to frank.palmer@usda.gov.

Electronic files must be in Microsoft Office Word or PDF format. All information must be UNCLASSIFIED material.

Respondents should include as part of their submission:

a. A synopsis of the company's capabilities to meet the requirements stated above (limit 5 pages).

b. UEI Number.

c. Company Name.

d. Company Address.

e. Business size as validated via the System for Award Administration (SAM). All offerors must register on the SAM located at http://www.sam.gov.

f. Company points of contact, phone number, and email address.

g. Past work experience. If you have experience working with other Federal Agencies and/or commercial businesses of similar size and scope, please include agency and/or business name contract number (if applicable), amount and type of contract.

Any company proprietary information must be marked as such.

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541380 – Testing Laboratories and Services, which contains a size standard of $19.0 Million is applicable to this acquisition. Interested firms are reminded that in accordance with FAR 4.12, prospective contractors shall complete electronic annual representations and certifications and in conjunction with FAR 4.11, are required to be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) at the time an offer or quotation is submitted.

[END OF SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE]