Isolated Crossing and Breeding Nursery

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service is soliciting quotations for nursery services related to an isolated crossing and breeding nursery project under solicitation number 1232SA26Q0356. The requirement encompasses all field activities necessary to grow six isolated crossing blocks and two hand-pollinated breeding nurseries between April/May 2026 and November 2026 across central corn belt locations in Iowa, Illinois, eastern Nebraska, or northern Indiana. Offerors must demonstrate technical capability to meet all performance requirements and schedule, submit past performance references from similar projects completed within the last three years with at least two references demonstrating prime contractor experience, and provide a capability statement assuring their experience and qualifications. Evaluation will be based on three factors: technical approach, past performance (rated as acceptable, neutral, or unacceptable), and price, with technical and past performance weighted slightly more heavily than price. All quotations must be submitted by April 17, 2026 at 9:00 AM PT via email to Elizabeth Calhoun at Elizabeth.Calhoun@usda.gov, with questions due by April 15, 2026 at 2:00 PM PT, and the government intends to award without discussions to a single contractor on a firm-fixed price basis.

This is an unrestricted procurement with no set-aside designation for small business concerns, and no incumbent contractor is identified in the solicitation materials. The services must be performed at the MWA Plant Introduction Research facility at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, with seed delivery required to USDA-ARS locations in Ames, Iowa and Clayton, North Carolina. The contract requirements include specific technical elements such as isolated crossing fields with 500-foot minimum separation from adjacent cornfields, hand-pollinated selfing nurseries with 1,394 plot rows, and hand-pollinated paired row crossing nurseries with 344 plus 301 delayed rows. Seed must be dried to 12-14% moisture content using forced air heat not exceeding 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and the contractor must submit bi-weekly status reports following planting with final harvest completion notification required by November 15, 2026. While no specific budget range is disclosed in the solicitation documents, the NAICS code 111150 (corn farming) applies with a size standard of $2.5 million, and Service Contract Labor Standards wage determinations for Story County, Iowa will apply to the awarded contract.