NY State Agriculture & Markets

NY State Agriculture & Markets, a child entity of the State of New York headquartered in Albany, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering food safety inspection, agricultural pest surveillance, disease traceability, and nutrition assistance services to USDA and FDA programs. The agency acts exclusively as a prime recipient across 521 federal awards spanning food safety, plant and animal health, and nutrition programs—100% of its federal footprint consists of cooperative agreements and grants rather than contracts.

The agency's capability portfolio centers on federal-state partnerships in four core areas. Food safety inspection and laboratory testing dominate activity: NY Agriculture & Markets holds a $2.008 million FDA definitive contract (awarded September 2026, completion September 2029) for human food inspections across New York State, succeeding a predecessor $2.058 million contract completed in September 2026. The agency also maintains ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and operates a state food safety laboratory, recently awarded $1.81 million through FDA's Laboratory Flexible Funding Model (September 2025–June 2030) to process more than 1,000 food and beverage samples annually for microbiological and chemical contamination testing. Pest surveillance and eradication form the second pillar: the agency conducts cooperative agreements with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) targeting spotted lanternfly, Asian longhorned beetle, European cherry fruit fly, box tree moth, golden nematode deregulation, and stone fruit pests, supported by Cornell University as a consistent subrecipient for diagnostic and laboratory services. Animal disease surveillance and traceability constitute the third focus, with cooperative agreements funding avian influenza surveillance in live bird markets, poultry flock testing, animal disease identification and tracking, and cattle disease traceability across New York's commodity sectors. Nutrition assistance represents the fourth major category: the agency administers multiple formula and project grants from the Food and Nutrition Service for WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (CFDA 10.572), Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (CFDA 10.576), and farm-to-school initiatives (CFDA 10.575), with awards totaling $1.548 million for senior nutrition and $322.582 thousand for WIC administrative expenses (both awarded October 2025, running through September 2026).

Customer concentration is extremely high. The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service accounts for 276 awards (53% of the portfolio), followed by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service with 71 awards, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service with 67 awards, and FDA with 34 awards ($13.3 million combined potential value). These four agencies represent 92% of all awards. Awards obligated across the portfolio total $348.3 million against $14.3 million in combined potential value—a 2,439% ratio indicating substantial year-over-year funding renewal and continuation rather than single large procurements.

Recent activity shows consistency rather than growth. Award volume declined from 28 in 2025 to 15 through September 2026, but the most recent award—the FDA food inspection contract on September 30, 2026—establishes the agency's continuing role in state-federal food safety administration through 2031. Twenty-two awards reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and face recompete exposure. The agency operates under no set-aside designations; all work is full-and-open to its role as a state government entity. Subcontract footprint is minimal—the agency is 100% prime recipient—though Cornell University appears consistently across pest detection, diagnostic, and research support tasks as a documented subrecipient on plant pest surveys and disease identification work.