North Dakota Department Of Agriculture

The North Dakota Department of Agriculture, a state government entity and subordinate component of the State of North Dakota, operates federal grant programs and receives definitive contracts for agricultural inspection and regulatory services performed statewide. The department acts as a direct recipient (99% of awards) rather than a subcontractor, with no presence on federal contract vehicles or IDIQs. It competes in full-and-open territory without SBA set-asides.

The department's federal footprint centers on agricultural regulatory and research-support work funded almost entirely through USDA grant programs. Primary work includes operating North Dakota's meat and poultry inspection program (cooperative agreements under CFDA 10.475 and 10.477, totaling roughly $962 thousand and $600 thousand respectively, running through September 2026), conducting agricultural pest and disease surveillance for export compliance (multiple APHIS cooperative agreements for karnal bunt, cyst nematode, khapra beetle, and wood borer surveys), administering specialty crop competitiveness grants (CFDA 10.170, with block grants worth $3.3 million to $2.5 million across multiple award cycles through 2028), and managing invasive species control programs (Forest Service grants under CFDA 10.680 and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding). A single definitive contract from the Food and Drug Administration awards $194,370.81 for animal food facility inspections in North Dakota through September 2031. The department also received a $310,231 NRCS Soil and Water Conservation grant (CFDA 10.902) for livestock manure management assistance running through September 2027, and coordinates with local food distribution and farm-to-school initiatives through USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and USDA Food and Nutrition Service grants.

Customer concentration is split between two principal federal partners. The Department of Agriculture (APHIS, AMS, FSIS, and Forest Service combined) accounts for 202 of 291 awards across pest surveillance, specialty crop marketing, meat inspection, and forest health. The Department of Health and Human Services (FDA and Indian Health Service) anchors most dollar volume: FDA's animal food inspection work carries $1.4 million of the department's $1.7 million combined potential value across 27 awards. The remaining fourteen customer agencies include EPA (pesticide program enforcement via cooperative agreement through September 2026), USDA NRCS, USDA Child Nutrition Division (Farm to School grants), and others. Awards obligated to date ($101.6 million) vastly exceed combined potential value ($1.7 million), reflecting the state entity's role as recipient of multi-year formula and block grants with annual drawdown against large federal commitments.

Activity has remained steady at 7 to 20 awards per year over the past five years, with nine awards reaching completion within the next twenty-four months. The department operates predominantly as a grant recipient executing federal regulatory, research, and technical assistance missions on behalf of USDA and HHS agencies, rather than as a vendor competing for federal services contracts. Corporate structure places the department as a child entity under the parent State of North Dakota government.