Grazing, Forage, and Alternative Farm Management Cohort Technical Assistance Contract

Contract Overview

The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) seeks multiple service providers across the Northeast to offer localized cohort-based technical assistance for dairy farmers interested in starting or increasing rotational grazing for their herd, improving existing herd grazing models, enhancing home-grown forage production, or utilizing alternative management strategies not typical to the Northeast and/or United States. Each cohort will consist of at least five dairy farms and will be available for enrollment to farms based in one or more states within New England, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Contractors will be expected to:

• Recruit dairy farmers for the cohort group.
• Host on-farm cohort learning opportunities.
• Provide one-on-one technical assistance to cohort members.
• Work with participant farmers to determine if their project would benefit from NE-DBIC grant funds to implement project activities. If so, support farms in developing a grant plan and application for funds.
• Communicate and coordinate with other contracted service providers awarded through this bid.

Funds Available

Contracts will be issued for up to $150,000.

Total funds available $500,000.

How to Submit a Proposal

1. Review the full Grazing transition, home-grown forage enhancement, and alternative farm management Request for Proposals (RFP).
2. Submit any questions or comments in writing to Kathryn.Donovan@vermont.gov. Questions are due: March 8, 2022 at 4:30 PM ET. Questions will be answered individually as they are received. A compilation of all questions received and their corresponding answers will be posted by March 11, 2022 on the RFP webpage. 
3. Include the following elements in your bid: cover letter, project abstract, contractor background and experience, resumes or CV's of project team leader and each team member, project approach, budget, references, Certificate of Insurance, Form W-9, evidence of an active SAM.gov registration, signed Certificate of Compliance
4. Submit all bid elements as a single PDF document to Kathryn.Donovan@vermont.gov. RFP Response Deadline: March 29, 2022 at 4:30 PM ET

Previous Rounds

There are seven active cohorts across the Northeast through this program. Read about the impacts of the pilot program offered through technical assistance provider, Cheryl Cesario, grazing specialist with Unviersity of Vermont:

• Transition to Grazing: Farmers Thinking Outisde the Box
• ​​Adaptability in Grazing Leads to Economic Returns