Cheyenne Bottoms Agricultural Cropland Lease

The Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks, through the State of Kansas Department of Administration Office of Procurement and Contracts, is seeking competitive bids for an Invitation for Bid (IFB) to lease approximately 259 acres of agricultural cropland at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area in Barton County. The procurement encompasses seven individual tracts (4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 5B, and 5C) ranging from 12 to 79 acres each, with bidders permitted to submit bids on individual tracts or all tracts as desired. The Department seeks crop share bids, with evaluation based on the highest crop share percentage offered to the Department; no cash bids are accepted. Successful bidders will assume responsibility for all agricultural production costs, including machinery, equipment, materials, labor, seed procurement, fertilizer application, weed control, soil testing, harvesting, and delivery of the Department's crop share to market, with settlement sheets due within 14 days of harvest. Bidders must be established agricultural operators with a minimum of three years of continuous experience and have their home address and base of operations within a reasonable distance of the wildlife area; additionally, permittees must maintain CFSA certification on all cropland acres, implement soil erosion control practices, and provide one week advance notice before crop harvest. The contract term runs from the award date through December 31, 2028, with two optional three-year renewal periods available for a maximum duration of nine years. The bid submission period extends from March 5, 2026, at 1:32 p.m. CST through March 31, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. CDT, with written questions due to Procurement Officer Bridget K. Martinez by March 20, 2026; electronic submission to procurement@ks.gov is preferred, though mailed or hand-delivered bids are accepted at the Department of Administration office in Topeka, with contract award and delivery scheduled for July 31, 2026.

The procurement includes Kansas bidder preference programs for Certified Businesses, Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses, and State Use Purchases; however, there are no specific set-asides restricting participation to particular organization types. All bidders must submit a current Tax Clearance Certificate from the Kansas Department of Revenue and complete certifications regarding immigration compliance (I-9 verification), boycott of Israel compliance, sexual harassment policies, and acceptance of State of Kansas terms and conditions. The contract prohibits cultivation of cotton, alfalfa, and rye, and requires strict compliance with pesticide restrictions outlined in the prohibited pesticides reference document, as well as compliance with crop rotation, cover crops, herbicide restrictions, noxious weed control, and wildlife habitat enhancement objectives. Permittees must obtain prior written manager approval for vegetation removal, crop residue handling, chemical applications, livestock grazing, or any permit transfers or subletting, and are fully liable for property damage or loss caused by negligence. Political subdivisions are permitted to utilize contracts under the same pricing and conditions, and the Department reserves the right to terminate the permit with 30 days' written notice if the land is needed for management objectives or upon fiscal necessity. No specific award value or budget range is disclosed in the procurement documents; rather, compensation to the permittee is determined through the competitive crop share bidding process, with successful bidders receiving the lowest permittee share percentage for their respective tract(s).