Grain Farming at Mid-Columbia River NWRC

Amended 11/19/14 to:
Add SF-1449 form
Extend deadline for quotes to 12/05/2014. Estimated date of award remains unchanged.
removed references to contract period of performance being for 1 year plus 4 additional (option) years.
Changed period of performance to 3 years base contract plus up to 2 option years.
In Section L and M:
Incorporate by reference clause 52.217-02 Cancellation Under Multi-Year Contracts.
Incorporate clauses 52.217-08 Option to Extend Services and 52.217-09 Option to Extend the Term of the Contract.
Removed requirement to mail hardcopies and CDS or thumb drives. Reinforced that solicitation allows for electronic submission of offers through e-mail to Frank_Lee@fws.gov.


Updated to add solicitation documents, change site visit dates, and minor edits.
This is a Solicitation for a full and open competition entitled "Cooperative Farming at Mid-Columbia River NWRC." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Refuge) intends to award several contracts to grow crops for wildlife on 1,869 acres of irrigated croplands for a three year period base plus up to two option years(Changed on 11/19/14). This land is farmed to provide essential food for wintering waterfowl within the Columbia Basin. At McNary National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), 587 acres of cropland are located in scattered tracts near Burbank, WA. At Umatilla NWR, 597 acres are located near Irrigon, OR and 685 acres are located near Paterson, WA. We will award purchase orders for four separate Parcels on McNary NWR, ranging in size from 31 acres to 275 acres. We will award two purchase orders for Umatilla NWR, one for the fields in Oregon, and the other for the fields in Washington. In accordance with FAR 52.212-2, The Government will award  purchase orders resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: Past Performance and Technical Experience. Technical experience and past performance, when combined, are more important than price. All crop planting must be agreed upon with refuge management prior to planting. Only small grain (e.g., wheat, barley), buckwheat, field corn, or alfalfa crops may be grown on Refuge fields. The Contractor shall leave a share not smaller than one quarter of the grain crops grown as standing grain for wildlife, to be mowed when requested by the Service. The Contractor shall grow the Services crop share to maturity using proper fertilization and irrigation practices. The type of crop, acreage, and distribution may be altered or modified annually, following the first year of operation, by mutual consent of both parties based on market conditions, pest management concerns, or wildlife resource needs. The Contractor shall furnish the seed, fertilizer, pesticides, labor, materials, irrigation equipment, and machinery and bear all expenses incident to the seeding, planting, cultivating, irrigating, and harvesting of all crops. The solicitation has been released with amendment 1 and is available electronically at http://www.fedbizopps.gov under Solicitation Number F15PS00007. Interested parties may register at the aforementioned FedBizOpps site under the cited Solicitation Number to receive any relevant notifications. It is the responsibility of interested parties to monitor the FedBizOpps website for any amendments to the solicitation package. The proposal due date is (changed to 12/05/2014). Estimated award is December 12, 2014. 

NOTE: The Service will hold Pre-proposal Conferences and Site Visits as follows: 
McNary NWR fields on Friday, November 14th at 10:00 am at Mid-Columbia NWRC, 64 Maple St, Burbank, WA  99336
Umatialla NWR fields on Thursday, Novemer 13th
9:00 am McCormack Unit 72650 Riverview Ln, Irrigon OR  97844
2:00 pm Whitcomb Island Unit, 1 Whitcomb Island Rd, Paterson WA  99345

The purpose of these meetings is to allow potential Offerors and interested parties to view the sites and ask questions. Service officials will present and discuss the procurement process and requirements for this procurement, as well as answer relevant questions from interested parties. Attendance at the Pre-proposal Conference and Site Visit is not mandatory in order to submit a proposal under this solicitation. The Service anticipates awarding several Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) awards to perform the work. Estimated period of performance is (changed to 3 years base plus up to 2 option years). This is a re-procurement of an existing requirement currently being performed under several Cooperative Farming Agreements. This procurement was mandated by a legal decision and the Service is soliciting for contracts for these services under protest. The NAICS code for this planned acquisition is 111199, All other Grain Farming, which has a threshold of $750,000.

Updated to add solicitation documents, change site visit dates, and minor edits.
This is a Solicitation for a full and open competition entitled "Cooperative Farming at Mid-Columbia River NWRC." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Refuge) intends to award several contracts to grow crops for wildlife on 1,869 acres of irrigated croplands for a three year period (base plus two option years). This land is farmed to provide essential food for wintering waterfowl within the Columbia Basin. At McNary National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), 587 acres of cropland are located in scattered tracts near Burbank, WA. At Umatilla NWR, 597 acres are located near Irrigon, OR and 685 acres are located near Paterson, WA. We will award purchase orders for four separate Parcels on McNary NWR, ranging in size from 31 acres to 275 acres. We will award two purchase orders for Umatilla NWR, one for the fields in Oregon, and the other for the fields in Washington. In accordance with FAR 52.212-2, The Government will award  purchase orders resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: Past Performance and Technical Experience. Technical experience and past performance, when combined, are more important than price. All crop planting must be agreed upon with refuge management prior to planting. Only small grain (e.g., wheat, barley), buckwheat, field corn, or alfalfa crops may be grown on Refuge fields. The Contractor shall leave a share not smaller than one quarter of the grain crops grown as standing grain for wildlife, to be mowed when requested by the Service. The Contractor shall grow the Services crop share to maturity using proper fertilization and irrigation practices. The type of crop, acreage, and distribution may be altered or modified annually, following the first year of operation, by mutual consent of both parties based on market conditions, pest management concerns, or wildlife resource needs. The Contractor shall furnish the seed, fertilizer, pesticides, labor, materials, irrigation equipment, and machinery and bear all expenses incident to the seeding, planting, cultivating, irrigating, and harvesting of all crops. The solicitation has been released with amendment 1 and is available electronically at http://www.fedbizopps.gov under Solicitation Number F15PS00007. Interested parties may register at the aforementioned FedBizOpps site under the cited Solicitation Number to receive any relevant notifications. It is the responsibility of interested parties to monitor the FedBizOpps website for any amendments to the solicitation package. The proposal due date is November 25, 2014. Estimated award is December 12, 2014. 

NOTE: The Service will hold Pre-proposal Conferences and Site Visits as follows: 
McNary NWR fields on Friday, November 14th at 10:00 am at Mid-Columbia NWRC, 64 Maple St, Burbank, WA  99336
Umatialla NWR fields on Thursday, Novemer 13th
9:00 am McCormack Unit 72650 Riverview Ln, Irrigon OR  97844
2:00 pm Whitcomb Island Unit, 1 Whitcomb Island Rd, Paterson WA  99345

The purpose of these meetings is to allow potential Offerors and interested parties to view the sites and ask questions. Service officials will present and discuss the procurement process and requirements for this procurement, as well as answer relevant questions from interested parties. Attendance at the Pre-proposal Conference and Site Visit is not mandatory in order to submit a proposal under this solicitation. The Service anticipates awarding several Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) awards to perform the work. Estimated period of performance is three years (base year plus two option years). This is a re-procurement of an existing requirement currently being performed under several Cooperative Farming Agreements. This procurement was mandated by a legal decision and the Service is soliciting for contracts for these services under protest. The NAICS code for this planned acquisition is 111199, All other Grain Farming, which has a threshold of $750,000.

This is a Pre-Solicitation notice (synopsis) for a full and open competition entitled "Cooperative Farming at Mid-Columbia River NWRC." The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Mid-Columbia River National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Refuge) intends to award several contracts to grow crops for wildlife on 1,869 acres of irrigated croplands for a three year period (base plus two option years). This land is farmed to provide essential food for wintering waterfowl within the Columbia Basin. At McNary National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), 587 acres of cropland are located in scattered tracts near Burbank, WA. At Umatilla NWR, 597 acres are located near Irrigon, OR and 685 acres are located near Paterson, WA. We will award contracts for four separate Parcels on McNary NWR, ranging in size from 31 acres to 275 acres. We will award two contracts for Umatilla NWR, one for the fields in Oregon, and the other for the fields in Washington. In accordance with FAR 52.212-2, The Government will award a contract resulting from this solicitation to the responsible offeror whose offer conforming to the solicitation will be most advantageous to the Government, price and other factors considered. The following factors shall be used to evaluate offers: Past Performance and Technical Experience. Technical experience and past performance, when combined, are more important than price. The Government will evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. The Government may determine that an offer is unacceptable if the option prices are significantly unbalanced. Evaluation of options shall not obligate the Government to exercise the option(s). All crop planting must be agreed upon with refuge management prior to planting. Only small grain (e.g., wheat, barley, buckwheat), corn, or alfalfa crops may be grown on Refuge fields. The Contractor shall leave one quarter of the grain crops grown as standing grain for wildlife, to be mowed when requested by the Service. The Contractor shall grow the Services crop share to maturity using proper fertilization and irrigation practices. The type of crop, acreage, and distribution may be altered or modified annually, following the first year of operation, by mutual consent of both parties based on market conditions, pest management concerns, or wildlife resource needs. The Contractor shall furnish the seed, fertilizer, pesticides, labor, materials, irrigation equipment, and machinery and bear all expenses incident to the seeding, planting, cultivating, irrigating, and harvesting of all crops. The solicitation will be released and available electronically at http://www.fedbizopps.gov under Solicitation Number F15PS00007. Interested parties may register at the aforementioned FedBizOpps site under the cited Solicitation Number to receive any relevant notifications. It is the responsibility of interested parties to monitor the FedBizOpps website for any amendments to the solicitation package. USFWS estimates release of a solicitation on or about October 25, 2014 with an estimated proposal due date of November 14, 2014. Estimated award is November 28, 2014. See solicitation, when released, for the actual proposal due date. NOTE: The Service will hold a Pre-proposal Conference and Site Visit on October 28, 2014, from 10 am to noon at the Refuge office in Burbank, WA. The purpose of the meeting is to allow potential Offerors and interested parties to view the sites and ask questions. Service officials will present and discuss the procurement process and requirements for this procurement, as well as answer relevant questions from interested parties. Attendance at the Pre-proposal Conference and Site Visit is not mandatory in order to submit a proposal under this solicitation. Offerors may submit proposals under this solicitation even if they have not attended. The Service anticipates awarding several Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) awards to perform the work. Estimated period of performance is three years (base year plus two option years). This is a re-procurement of an existing requirement currently being performed under several Cooperative Farming Agreements. This procurement was mandated by a legal decision and the Service is soliciting for contracts for these services under protest. The NAICS code for this planned acquisition is 111199, All other Grain Farming, which has a threshold of $750,000. NO OTHER PROCUREMENT INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.