Gillespie Livestock Company Inc.

Gillespie Livestock Company Inc., a small business based in Fredericksburg, Texas, supplies research cattle to the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) as a prime contractor, operating exclusively under total small business set-asides and competing 100% as a prime (no subcontract exposure). The company is a for-profit corporate entity with no reported minority or veterans' designations beyond its small business status.

Gillespie Livestock's capability footprint is narrow and specialized: the vendor procures and delivers research cattle meeting precise federal specifications—typically Hereford, Black Angus, or Charolais breeds weighing 300–550 pounds, aged 6–24 months, free of Brahman influence and cattle fever tick exposure—to support USDA ARS agricultural research initiatives at Texas facilities. Representative work includes a $153,000 purchase order (June 2026) for 51 head of research calves supporting the Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory in Kerrville, a $61,515.52 delivery order (May 2025) for 32 head of calves under the company's IDIQ vehicle, and a $37,913.40 purchase order (February 2024, total small business set-aside) for 26 head of research animals supporting cattle fever tick studies and dust bag effectiveness research. The research animals feed studies on cattle fever ticks, fly colony maintenance, essential oils, and dust bag effectiveness conducted at regional USDA ARS facilities.

Customer concentration is extreme: 82% of awards (78 of 100) flow to USDA ARS Field Research Implementation and Information Delivery Plains Area, accounting for $2.2 million of the $2.4 million combined potential value. A secondary customer, USDA ARS Central Program Planning Coordination and Support, accounts for four awards and $256 thousand. No other federal agencies appear in the footprint.

Gillespie Livestock holds a single-award Indefinite Delivery Contract (12805B24D0007) valued at $975,000, awarded by USDA ARS Plains Area in August 2024 and extending through July 2029, designated as a total small business set-aside. The vendor issues task orders under this IDIQ as well as against blanket purchase agreements with USDA ARS (AG0202B070003, AG7D55B090002, and AG7D55B080001), with the IDC and top three BPAs accounting for 27 task orders across the recent activity window.

Activity has grown modestly from one award in 2022 to eight in 2024, then declined to four in 2025 and three in early 2026. Three awards with combined potential value of $400,000 face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating near-term recompete exposure. The vendor's footprint is entirely prime work; it maintains no subcontractor relationships with other federal primes and does not appear as a sub in the source.