Cone-Regulated Seeder and Plot Combine Harvester

A market survey is being conducted to determine if there are adequate Small Business contractors available for a proposed project who meet the specific criteria outlined below. This is not a solicitation Announcement or Request for Proposal. 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.  Responses to this Sources Sought Notice will be used by the Government to make an appropriate acquisition decision. The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) will not award a contract on the basis of responses or pay for the preparation of any information submitted.  Respondents will not be notified of the results of this notice. After completing an analysis of the responses, the Government will determine whether to limit competition to Small Business firms, or to proceed with issuing an unrestricted solicitation, inviting full and open competition.

Description:  Cone-Regulated Seeder and Plot Combine Harvester.  Cone-Regulated Seeder to plant trials for high-throughput evaluation of crop varieties and management. Plot Combine Harvester to harvest both food and feed grain crops from these research trials, larger-scale agronomic experiments, and bulk land at the research station. Plot Combine Harvester will collect representative samples and critical data, including yield, for each plot. Set uses a common set of research-specific, plot management software. The data enabled is mission critical and central to current project plan.

Technical requirements:  See attached Specifications.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 333111.  Size standards in number of employees is 1250.

Companies who have the experience, as well as an interest in doing business with ARS, should submit a brief 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. Companies should also indicate their business size status for the applicable NAICS code.  Responses to this notice must demonstrate clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government, would not be cost or time prohibitive, and would not hinder the mission objective of the ARS research location.  Interested contractors are instructed to provide only the data requested.

Responses must be submitted electronically by email only to the attention of Contract Specialist, Monte Jordanat monte.jordan@usda.gov not later than 3:00 p.m. CDT on or before Tuesday, August 26,2025. Telephone inquiries will NOT be accepted. 

Disclaimer and Important Notes:  This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. Interested contractors are instructed to provide only the data requested. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. No proprietary classified confidential or sensitive information shall be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any nonproprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s). The USDA will not review any additional information.  Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. The government is not responsible for locating or securing any information not identified in the response. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.