The U.S. Department of Agriculture is responding to input from Indian Country requesting to localize food purchases for tribal feeding programs and reframe purchase specifications to address barriers inhibiting access by tribal and related small or very small food enterprises.

USDA is conducting a Ground Bison Purchase Pilot to support smaller, local, and regional deliveries of ground bison to tribes and state agencies administering the Food Distribution Program for Indian Reservations (FDPIR). Through this first round of the pilot, vendors will have an opportunity to bid on the delivery of ground bison to tribal food boxes in the following states: Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The USDA team is here to help any producers, processors, or other tribal entities interested in participating in this pilot.

A solicitation will be issued in the near future and will be available electronically through the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) system.  A hard copy of the solicitation will not be available. Public WBSCM information is available without an account on the WBSCM Public Procurement Page. All future information regarding this acquisition, including solicitation amendments and award notices, will be published through WBSCM, and on the Agricultural Marketing Service's website.  Interested parties shall be responsible for ensuring that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition. The contract type will be Request for Proposal (RFP), restricted to Hubzone vendors.

Pursuant to Agricultural Acquisition Regulation 470.103(b), commodities and the products of agricultural commodities acquired under this contract must be a product of the United States and shall be considered to be such a product if it is grown, processed, and otherwise prepared for sale or distribution exclusively in the United States.

Offerors are urged to review all documents as they pertain to this program, including the latest—

• AMS Master Solicitation for Commodity Procurements (MSCP), April 2023
• Applicable commodity specification(s) identified in the subsequent solicitation(s)

To be eligible to submit offers, potential Bison POC contractors must meet the vendor qualification requirements. The AMS points of contact for new vendors are Andrea Lang who can be reached by phone at (202) 720-4237 and Diana Dau (202) 378-1075 or by email to NewVendor@usda.gov. The attached updated fact sheet provides a general overview of the Bison pilot process. The main changes are the requirement of only one letter of reference and vendors are not required. The requirements for the capacity letter and the letter of reference will be included in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Please feel free to share with any other bison producers/processors that may be interested in participating in this important pilot project.

Once qualification requirements have been met, access to WBSCM will be provided. Bids, modifications, withdrawals of bids, and price adjustments shall be submitted using this system. Submission of the above by any means other than WBSCM will be determined non-responsive.

To receive e-mail notification of the issuance of AMS solicitations, contract awards, and other information, subscribe online at “Sign Up for Updates” available on the AMS Commodity Procurement website.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about the program or process, please feel free to contact Elizabeth Lober, Pilot Lead: Elizabeth.Lober@usda.gov, (202) 313-1411.

Source: USDA