Gary W Clem Inc.

Gary W Clem Inc. Almaco Division, doing business as Almaco, manufactures specialized agricultural research equipment — precision combines, planters, threshers, grain drills, and data collection systems — and sells exclusively to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service as a prime contractor on firm fixed-price purchase orders. Almaco is a small business based in Nevada, Iowa, and competes under total small business set-asides on 79% of its USDA ARS awards, with the remainder awarded under full-and-open or no set-aside designation.

Almaco's customer footprint is monolithic. The Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service accounts for 180 of 211 total awards (85% by count) and $7.3 million of $10.8 million combined potential value (68% by dollars). Within USDA ARS, the Field Research Implementation and Information Delivery directorate and its regional offices — Midwest Area, Plains Area, Pacific West Area, and Southeast Area — dominate the award stream. Almaco has worked with USDA ARS continuously since at least 1986, establishing a narrow but deep customer relationship with no exposure to Department of Defense, civilian IT agencies, or other federal buyers. Recent representative work includes a $536.7 thousand firm fixed-price purchase order (June 2026) from USDA ARS Southeast Area for an Almaco R1 Combine configured for soybeans with data collection system and on-site training, a $284.7 thousand award (September 2025) for a small plot combine to support hemp breeding research, and a $189.2 thousand award (September 2023) for a high-precision 4-row research plot planter to support field research implementation at Columbia, Missouri.

Almaco's capability portfolio, grounded in 211 prime awards, centers on harvesting equipment (103 awards), soil preparation equipment (33 awards), and maintenance and repair services for agricultural machinery (20 awards). Equipment types include plot combines, rotary plot combines, precision planters (4-row, 2-row, seed-specific cone planters), belt threshers, small bundle threshers, grain drills, seed coaters, seed counting carousels, corn shellers, stake-driver systems, and data collection systems (HarvestMaster H2 Classic, Almaco D1). The vendor also delivers custom modifications, field orientation, warranty work, and technical support services. Primary NAICS codes are 333111 (Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing, 168 awards) and 333120 (Commercial and Industrial Machinery Repair and Maintenance, 5 awards).

Activity has declined sharply in recent years. Almaco recorded 10 awards in 2022, 13 in 2023, 11 in 2024, but only 2 in 2025 and 1 through mid-2026. The combined potential value across all 211 awards stands at $10.8 million, with obligated dollars totaling $12.4 million. Only one award — a $537 thousand purchase order — faces ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, indicating minimal near-term recompete pressure. Almaco operates as a 100% prime contractor; the source records no subcontract activity.

The vendor holds no position on government-wide vehicles, agency-wide IDIQs, GWACs, or BPAs. All work flows through individual purchase orders issued directly by USDA ARS regional offices, typically under Lowest Price Technically Acceptable evaluation after competitive solicitations posted under NAICS 333111. This vehicle-free, transactional posture — combined with severe customer concentration and declining award velocity — suggests limited leverage for teaming, cross-agency expansion, or technology diversification. Almaco's federal footprint is specialized and narrow by design: a small-business equipment manufacturer serving a single, stable customer through recurring replacement and upgrade orders.