Corn Silage Chopping

Summary (Newest Update)

Background The USDA - National Animal Disease Center (NADC) - Animal Resources Unit (ARU) in Ames, Iowa is issuing this solicitation for the purpose of obtaining corn silage chopping services. The NADC's mission is to provide animal care and support services for internal users that rely on animals and animal products for research, testing, and training. This contract aims to fulfill the requirement for chopping corn on government-owned land to supply corn silage, which is essential for the NADC's dairy herd feeding program. Work Details The contractor will be responsible for chopping and bagging corn from fields as corn silage at the NADC. The scope of work includes: - Chopping corn to fill three to six 200-foot long silage storage bags, not exceeding 1200 tons of corn silage. - Bag diameters must be 8 foot, 9 foot (preferred), or 10 foot, subject to approval by the ARU Farm Manager. - Providing all necessary equipment including chopper, trucks, wagons, tractors, silage bagger, and fuel. - The chopper must have a minimum of a 3-row head or equivalent cutting capacity and be equipped with a kernel processor. - Delivering chopped silage from fields to designated areas at NADC and transferring loads to the bagger. - Ensuring consistent particle size of ¾ inch and monitoring moisture content between 62-70%. - Documenting accurate records of loads and tonnage hauled by each vehicle/wagon as well as tonnage harvested from each field. - Packing silage adequately in bags to eliminate air pockets that could compromise quality. Place of Performance The services will be performed at the USDA ARS MWA National Animal Disease Center located at 1920 Dayton Avenue, Ames, IA 50010. Incumbent Analysis (see Incumbents section for more detail) The solicitation for corn silage chopping at the USDA National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa shows a confirmed incumbent based on prior award 1232SA25P0191 to K & M Agri Contracting (value $65,800; 08/21/25–10/31/25). That prior work involved harvesting corn silage to support animal care processes at the same NADC location, which appears to be a continuation of the current requirement to chop and bag government corn into silage for the dairy herd feeding program.