Department Of Agriculture Tennessee

The Department Of Agriculture Tennessee, doing business as the Division Of Animal Industries, is a state government entity that operates as a federal grant recipient and prime contractor providing animal health diagnostics, food safety inspections, and forestry management services to federal agencies on a non-set-aside basis. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, the Division serves as Tennessee's official state agency for agricultural, animal health, and environmental programs and performs work primarily for USDA agencies and the Food and Drug Administration.

The Division's federal footprint divides into three distinct capability areas. First, animal health laboratory and diagnostic testing: the Division operates the Kord Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, which participates in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) and conducts foreign animal disease (FAD) testing, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance testing, and other veterinary diagnostics. Recent prime work includes a $25 million single-award IDIQ from USDA APHIS Veterinary Services (September 2026–September 2031) for NAHLN diagnostic testing services, and multiple delivery orders under a $410,000 indefinite delivery contract from APHIS, including a $41,250 FAD testing order (April 2026), a $50,000 HPAI avian testing order (April 2025), and a $2,125 antimicrobial resistance testing order (July 2026). Second, food safety inspections: the Division performs human and animal food inspections on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, with a $894,505 definitive contract for human food inspections in Tennessee (awarded September 2026, through September 2031) and a $222,989 contract for animal food inspections (awarded September 2026, through March 2032). Third, forestry and natural resource management: the Division administers federal grant programs for wildfire preparedness, invasive species detection, forest health protection, and land conservation across Tennessee. Representative forest-sector awards include a $22.6 million Forest Legacy Program acquisition grant (December 2024–December 2027), a $5.24 million Consolidated Payment Grant for Cooperative Forestry Assistance (September 2025–September 2030), and multiple smaller project and cooperative agreements totaling millions in annual forestry funding.

Customer concentration reflects the Division's tight integration with USDA. APHIS Veterinary Services alone anchors 210 awards at $46.1 million combined potential value, followed by FDA (30 awards, $6.3 million) and USDA Forest Service R8-Southern Region (69 awards, $3 thousand). The top five funding agencies by award count account for 70% of recent activity. APHIS dominates both the volume (210 awards) and dollar metrics ($46.1 million), primarily through cooperative agreements for animal disease surveillance, animal identification and traceability, and emergency response activities. The Division's grant portfolio is dominated by USDA (forest service, APHIS, Food and Nutrition Service) and FDA funding; federal Emergency Management Agency represents the second-largest customer by award count (94 awards) but carries lower individual award values—primarily disaster response and emergency food assistance pass-through grants.

The Division holds two named parent IDIQs: indefinite delivery contract 12639522D0012 (USDA APHIS, $410,000 ceiling, 13 recent task orders worth $339 thousand) for animal laboratory testing services, and indefinite delivery contract AG6395C170044 (6 task orders, $332 thousand). Activity has been stable to slightly declining—44 awards in 2022 down to 23 in 2026 year-to-date—with 36 awards totaling $825 thousand reaching completion within the next twenty-four months, creating modest recompete opportunity primarily in APHIS cooperative agreements and FDA contracts. The Division's federal grant role is overwhelmingly as a prime recipient rather than subrecipient; it acts as the state administering agency for Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) funding, Specialty Crop Block Grants, forest conservation programs, and animal health surveillance initiatives. The Division does not compete for set-asides and operates entirely in full-and-open procurements as a state government entity ineligible for SBA certifications.

The Division's work is narrowly concentrated in veterinary diagnostics, food safety regulation, and state-level forestry administration—specialized technical functions aligned with its statutory role as Tennessee's official state agricultural agency. Its federal revenue derives from service delivery contracts and cooperative agreements rather than competitive procurement.