SOLICITATION NOTICE
B -- Development of a Risk Management Program for Pasture/Rangeland and Forage for USDA Risk Management Agency
- Notice Date
- 2/10/2004
- Notice Type
- Solicitation Notice
- Contracting Office
- Minerals Management Service GovWorks (Franchise) 381 Elden Street, MS 2510 Herndon VA 20170
- ZIP Code
- 20170
- Solicitation Number
- 0404RP33613
- Response Due
- 3/30/2004
- Archive Date
- 2/9/2005
- Point of Contact
- Richard P. Bolick Contract Specialist 7037871395 richard.bolick@mms.gov;
- E-Mail Address
-
Email your questions to Point of Contact above, or if none listed, contact the IDEAS EC HELP DESK for assistance
(EC_helpdesk@NBC.GOV)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- This solicitation was previously synopsized under Reference Number RP33613A. The US Department of Interior, through its Franchise Fund activity GovWorks, will manage the following procurement action on behalf of the US Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency. BACKGROUND. Since 1938, the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC) has developed and refined Federal crop insurance programs for many crops. Legislative modifications implemented in 1980 and 1996 gave FCIC authority to expand the availability of crop insurance. In 2003 FCIC offered Federal crop insurance programs for 362 crops with liability exceeding $40.5 billion and premium of $3.4 billion. While the FCIC product offerings have been strong for major crops, products for pasture/rangeland, forage and hay have been inadequate. When all types of rangeland and pasture are considered, there are approximately 400 million acres in the United States and there is no regional focus on where most is located. There are an additional 65 million acres of hay harvested in the U.S. each year. For purposes of this solicitation, the full scope of these acreages is the target. There is a wide array of pasture/rangeland, forage and hay varieties, practices and types. This can be illustrated by contrasting the differences between improved pastures that one might find in the eastern states to the unimproved rangeland in the western states that ranchers lease from the government. Further, some acreage is grazed under special conditions or harvested for hay in other years. Producers in various regions often face unique and different problems. Those responding to this solicitation must account for these differences. They must identify and address relevant issues in their SOW. This means that tailored products shall be proposed. It does not mean the Offeror needs to be concerned with the entire spectrum of needs for livestock producers. Livestock producers include, but are not limited to, commercial cow/calf producers, seed stock producers, stockers/backgrounders, feeders, cattle ranchers, and dairy producers who utilize pasture/rangeland and produce forage and hay for their own use. To date, RMA has had limited experience and success in developing insurance products for the wide array of forages and hay that are used by livestock. Typically, livestock producers do not keep adequate production records required for APH-type insurance products. RMA wants to identify and target these markets to pursue development of viable risk management products. Currently, RMA provides coverage for rangeland under the Group Risk Plan (GRP) Rangeland Crop Insurance Pilot program in a limited number of Montana Counties. There is also an APH Forage program for alfalfa hay. RMA is considering the development of a new pilot Pasture and Rangeland crop insurance program based on the use of a plant growth model. RMA is aware that many producers of forage crops are not able to insure these crops under the existing (APH) Forage Production or GRP Forage Production Crop Insurance Programs. Therefore, RMA is seeking improvements to existing crop insurance programs and development of new and innovative approaches for providing improved forage coverage and risk management protection. OBJECTIVES: The SOO for this program describes the basic, top-level objectives for developing a risk management program for pasture/rangeland and forage, and is provided in lieu of a Government written performance-based Statement of Work. This approach provides potential Offerors the flexibility to develop cost effective and innovative solutions that meet the stated goals and objectives of this request for proposals. RMA's goal is to obtain proposals which: (1) provide improvements to existing crop insurance programs specific to pasture, rangeland and forage; and/or (2) research and development of new, and potentially innovative crop insurance programs for pasture/rangeland, forage and hay, as defined in section 1.0 of the SOO, that is used for cattle. Multiple proposals may be submitted and evaluated, and more than one award may be made. A successful proposal submitted under this SOO will: improve the existing pasture, rangeland and forage crop insurance programs offered by RMA (APH Forage Production, GRP Forage Production, GRP Rangeland); or provide new and innovative approaches to insuring pasture/rangeland, forage and hay as defined in section 1.0 of the SOO. To view the complete Statement of Objectives and proposal information, access www.govworks.gov/vendor/csolicit.asp; look up Solicitation Number 1435-04-04-RP-33613. HOW TO RESPOND: In order to compete for this contract, interested parties must demonstrate that they are qualified to perform the work by providing, (A) CAPABILITIES STATEMENT in accordance with the instructions in the SOO. References will be checked. Capabilities Statements will be evaluated based on; (i) key personnel skills, abilities and experience; (ii) your organization's experience and (iii) past performance (including number, size, and complexity of similar projects), adherence to schedules and budgets, effectiveness of program management, willingness to cooperate when difficulties arise, general compliance with the terms of the contracts, and acceptability of delivered products. (B) A TECHNICAL PROPOSAL in accordance with the proposal instructions in the SOO. (C) A COST PROPOSAL, which shall be a separate volume from the written portion of the Technical Proposal. The Cost Proposal shall clearly indicate the proposed labor categories, hours, ODCs, travel, and material for this effort. (D) The completed OFFEROR REPRESENTATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS-COMMERCIAL ITEMS per FAR subpart 52.212-3. (E) VERIFICATION that the Offeror is currently registered in the Department of Defense Central Contractor Registration (CCR). GovWorks shall make no award to unregistered contractors. For details, see www.ccr.gov. EVALUATION. Please see the SOO document for the evaluation criteria and proposal preparation instructions. CONTRACT AWARD. Offerors shall include in their offers the type of contract being proposed. The Government is open to consider various contracting vehicles, appropriate for the proposed Statements of Work. Contract award(s) shall be made to the responsible Offeror(s) whose offer(s), in conforming to this RFP, provides an overall best value to the Government, technical evaluation factors and cost considered. The Government's objective is to obtain the highest technical quality considered necessary to achieve the project objectives, with a realistic and reasonable cost. Technical evaluation factors are more important than cost; however, between proposals that are evaluated as technically equal in quality, cost will become a major consideration in selecting the successful Offeror. The Government reserves the right to make award(s) without discussions. Please submit two (2) complete hard copy original offers and an electronic copy of all documents on CD or diskette in Microsoft Office format to the following address. PROPOSALS ARE DUE BY 3:00 PM EST MARCH 30, 2004, AT DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE, MS 2500, 381 ELDEN STREET, HERNDON, VIRGINIA 20170, ATTENTION: RICHARD BOLICK. Email copies of proposal documents will not be accepted. Please note that MMS/Gov.Works is located in a secure building. If offers are hand delivered, please ensure that the courier is instructed to use the courtesy phone in the rear of the lobby (to the right of the elevators) to call Procurement Operations on extension 1354. A staff member will meet the courier to receive the submittal. Please also send one hard copy and an electronic copy of the Capability Statement and Technical Proposal ONLY to the RMA POC: Stan Harkey, USDA Risk Management Agency, 6501 Beacon Drive, Kansas City, MO 64133. Timeliness of proposal response shall be determined by time of receipt at the Herndon location. Technical/business questions shall be sent via fax as soon as possible to: Richard Bolick, Fax (703) 787-1041 or by e-mail: Richard.Bolick@mms.gov. No questions are to be sent to RMA. Please include with your question(s) your full name, the RFP number & title, your organization, complete address with telephone and fax numbers. TELEPHONIC QUESTIONS OR REQUESTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. In addition, RMA will host a pre-proposal conference for all potential Offerors at the RMA facility in Kansas City on March 2, 2004. See the solicitation documents for more information and rsvp requirements. The referenced provisions and clauses can be viewed at www.arnet.gov.
- Web Link
-
Please click here to view more details.
(http://ideasec.nbc.gov/ecprod/owa/ec$cbd.sypfirstcount?P_SERVER_ID3=MM143501&P_OBJ_ID1=143031)
- Record
- SN00519849-W 20040212/040210212539 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps.gov Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)
| FSG Index | This Issue's Index | Today's FBO Daily Index Page |