Intent to Sole Source a SeedMeister NIR Spectrometer Mark II

This is NOT a request for quote-
USDA, ARS, CGBRU intends to award a sole source purchase order to Brimrose Corporation of America, 19 Loveton Circle, Sparks, MD 21152 for a Luminar 3076 Seed Meister AOTF-NIR Spectrometer Mark II. Brimrose Corporation of America is the sole manufacturer and sole provider for this instrument. Other companies such as Bruker and Perkin Elmer produce NIR instruments. However, the Brimrose Corporation's Luminar 3076M Seedmeister Mark III is the only NIR instrument on the market that can take measurements of individual seeds and automatically sort the seeds based on pre-set thresholds. The user-set thresholds of oleic and linoleic acid can be used to characterize peanuts as "high oleic/low linoleic, low oleic/high linoleic, and a variety of categories in between. Dr. Holbrook's breeding program requires analysis of large amounts of peanuts, which the Seedmeister can satisfy at a rate of 30 peanuts/minute. Our market research showed that this instrument is the only one that can satisfied our requirement and there are no other distributors of it. Our justification to award is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.
All inquiries on this action can be submitted in writing via email to juan.gaytan@ars.usda.gov NO LATER THAN 17 SEP 2018 @ 8:00AM EST. All information shall be furnished at no cost or obligation to the Government..