Michigan Department Of Agriculture And Rural Development

Michigan Department Of Agriculture And Rural Development, a U.S. state government agency headquartered in Lansing, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering food safety testing, agricultural regulatory inspections, pest surveillance, and animal health program implementation across multiple USDA and EPA funding streams. The agency acts exclusively as a prime recipient; it does not compete for federal contracts and carries no federal contract prime awards or subcontracts.

MDARD's federal footprint centers on regulatory and scientific services supporting national food and agricultural safety systems. The agency conducts human food inspections, animal feed facility compliance audits, pesticide residue analysis, and animal disease surveillance under cooperative agreements and grants with the Food and Drug Administration, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, and EPA Region 5. Representative work includes a $3.16 million definitive contract with FDA for human food inspections in Michigan through March 2027; a $2.37 million FDA Laboratory Flexible Funding Model cooperative agreement for expanded chemical testing (mycotoxins, veterinary drugs, heavy metals, cannabidiol potency) and microbiology surveillance through June 2030; a $2.26 million USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Specialty Crop Block Grant for research, marketing, and education projects supporting grapes, cherries, potatoes, and other specialty crops through September 2028; and a $1.26 million USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service cooperative agreement distributing sub-awards to 17 Michigan conservation districts for soil and water conservation technical assistance through September 2026. Additional representative grants include a $864,464 EPA Region 5 Performance Partnership Grant for pesticide regulatory and enforcement programs, a $604,370 Agricultural Marketing Service award for the Pesticide Data Program, and recurring cooperative agreements with APHIS for exotic pest surveillance (Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey), animal disease traceability, chronic wasting disease prevention in cervid herds, avian influenza and tuberculosis surveillance, and classical scrapie eradication in sheep and goats.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward USDA programs. APHIS accounts for 227 awards with modest combined potential value, while FDA and EPA funding carries larger dollar magnitudes—FDA holds 47 awards valued at $17.5 million combined, and EPA accounts for 10 awards at approximately $2 million combined. Together, the top five customer agencies (APHIS, AMS, FDA, EPA Region 5, and HHS FDA sub-offices) account for 84 percent of recent award activity. The agency's award portfolio reflects 432 prime grants versus one sub-award, with no parent contract vehicles or IDIQs. Recent activity has remained relatively stable at 14 to 18 awards annually from 2022 through 2025, with 19 awards valued at $4 million reaching completion in the next twenty-four months, creating modest recompete exposure.

MDARD's grant work frequently routes sub-awards to Michigan State University for exotic pest detection and research, to 17 conservation districts for field implementation of water quality and soil conservation practices, and to specialty crop industry organizations (Michigan Apple Committee, Cherry Marketing Institute, Michigan Wine Collaborative) for marketing and promotion. The agency maintains ISO 17025 accreditation for its chemistry and microbiology laboratories and coordinates closely with FDA's Office of Regulatory Affairs on food defense planning and rapid response team capabilities. Work is performed at MDARD headquarters in Lansing and subordinate laboratories at East Lansing and Williamston, with field operations and stakeholder engagement conducted statewide across Michigan.