AGR-Land and Water-Farming Services at Henry White Farm

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) is conducting a small purchase procurement for comprehensive custom farming services at Henry White Farm located in St. Clair County. The contract encompasses approximately 70 acres of soybean and corn production, with required services including ground preparation, planting, nutrient and chemical application, crop harvesting and delivery, fall or spring tillage, ditch mowing, research activity support, and general drainage maintenance. The vendor must provide all necessary machinery, equipment, labor, fuel, and power to execute these services, while IDOA will supply all seed, inoculation, disease treatment materials, and fertilizers. The contract has an initial five-year term with a maximum total duration of ten years including renewal terms and extensions, and vendors must submit firm-price bids for all 70 acres for each of the five years through the BidBuy platform. The vendor must maintain general commercial liability insurance of $1,000,000 per occurrence with a $2,000,000 annual aggregate, auto liability insurance of $1,000,000, and workers' compensation insurance as required by law. The proposal deadline is April 9, 2026, with the posting date of April 6, 2026, allowing a three-day submission window. Vendors must comply with prevailing wage standards, drug-free workplace certification, equal employment opportunity provisions, and standard Illinois certifications, and no subcontractors are permitted under this agreement.

This procurement is not designated as a small business set-aside, and no specific incumbent vendor is identified in the contract documentation. The contract does not appear to contain targeted set-asides for disadvantaged enterprises or other restricted vendor categories. Vendors are responsible for all hired labor obligations, including employer contributions for safety, social security, and workers' compensation, and must reimburse IDOA for all income received from other sources or crops grown, as IDOA retains sole recipient status for all farm-related income. No specific award value or budget range is provided in the available documentation, though pricing should be submitted on a firm-price basis per the 70-acre requirement for each contract year. Interested vendors should access the full contract documentation through the BidBuy platform and submit proposals by the April 9, 2026 deadline to be considered for this five-year farming services contract.