USDA-ERS Cost of Production Sugar, HFCS & Sugar Beets Data

The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service seeks cost of production data, price forecasting, and market analysis for sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and sugar beets to support the Economic Research Service's 10-year sugar baseline, with quotations due August 27, 2026, at 12:00 PM Eastern Time and questions due August 25, 2026.

This is an unrestricted firm-fixed-price requirements contract solicited as a Request for Quotation under FAR Part 12 commercial items procedures. The base period runs from August 31, 2026, through August 30, 2027, with four one-year option periods available through August 30, 2031. Place of performance is virtual with no travel required; contract administration occurs at USDA ARS Acquisition and Property Division in Beltsville, Maryland, with deliveries to USDA ERS in Washington, DC.

The NAICS code is 513120, Periodical Publishers, with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees. The contractor must deliver short and long-term price forecasts updated quarterly at state and country levels on an annual basis, monthly trend and market analysis for sweeteners, and licenses providing staff access to datasets on food and agricultural products with defined terms of use. Analysis must be broken down by commodities, downstream products, and country, addressing supply, demand, trade, pricing, and consumption factors. Contractors may be required to obtain a USDA/ERS suitability determination and complete mandatory security and privacy training to access USDA/ERS networks.

Evaluation criteria are Technical Approach (ability to meet all Statement of Work requirements), Price (fair and reasonable assessment across base period and all option periods combined), and Past Performance (acceptable, neutral, or unacceptable). Award goes to the highest technically rated vendor with fair and reasonable pricing and acceptable or neutral past performance. Quotations must remain firm for 60 calendar days from the offer due date. The contracting officer is Jacob Toft (jacob.toft@usda.gov).