Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract under FAR 13.106-1(b)(1). The United States Department of Agriculture intends to award a contract with John McMurty, PhD.  He is a leading authority on agricultural animal research in the United States. During his 35 plus years working in this field, Dr. McMurtry has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications.  This will be the third year for him to manage this project.  He has such depth of ARS institutional knowledge that he needs no training, fully understands the project , fully understands the processes and procedures, and has established relationships with most of the Principal Investigators in this project.

Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government. In doing so, interested sources must submit technical capabilities, pricing, and other information that demonstrates their ability to meet the Governments needs no later than response time provided. Detailed capabilities must be submitted to attached POC. This synopsis is not considered a request for bid/quote/proposal. No solicitation document is available and telephone requests for technical information will not be honored. No contract will be awarded on a basis of offers received in response to this notice, but offers will be used to determine if a comparable source is available and more advantageous to the Government.