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NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

This notice is being published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 5.101 requiring dissemination of information for proposed contract actions. This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract and is not a request for competitive quotes/proposals. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition is NAICS 333111, Farm Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing, with a small business size standard of 1,250 employees.

Background: An ARS Southeast Area (SEA) research site has a requirement for a corn header to be used with an existing plot combine harvester Zurn 160 for research farming operations. The requested corn header must be a two-row, manufactured to work hydraulically, electronically, and mechanically with an existing Zurn 160 Plot Combine. Each row must have two picking rollers with 36” row distance that pull the corn stalks down and the cob is stripped over the split plates. Must have a reverse mechanism to allow the corn stalks to be reversed out of the header. The corn header must be manufactured to fit the quick attach on a Zurn 160 Plot Combine feeder housing.

The USDA, ARS, SEA intends to award a firm fixed priced purchase order pursuant to the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), circumstances of the contract action deem only one source reasonably available. The proposed vendor is ZURN USA Inc., as the sole U.S. based subsidiary of Zurn Harvesting and the only vendor from which the requirement can be obtained due to adherence to warranty provisions on the existing Zurn 160 Plot Combine.

All responsible sources may submit a capability statement demonstrating the ability to provide the requested item, which shall be considered by the agency before the intended award date. The capability statement must include information addressing 100% guarantee of not voiding existing Zurn Harvesting warranty on the Zurn 160 Plot Combine. The capability statement must detail whether the available item is Commercially off-the-Shelf (COTS). Interested sources who submit data are responsible for appropriately marking information if it is proprietary in nature. The Government shall not reimburse interested sources for any information provided. No requests for capability briefings will be honored. Quotations received in response to this notice will not be accepted since the synopsis is not a request for quote. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

A capability statement may be sent via email to osvaldo.rodriguez@usda.gov no later than April 17, 2024, 10:00 AM ET.

Electronic files should be in Microsoft Office Word or PDF format. All information should be UNCLASSIFIED material only. Any proprietary information must be marked as such, the RFI information should not exceed a total of 10 one-sided 8 1/2x11 pages, with one-inch margins, and font no smaller than 12 point.

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