The U.S. Department of Agriculture is one of the larger civilian buyers in the federal government. In FY2023 it obligated more than $11 billion across roughly 67,000 contract actions, and it estimated a comparable spend in FY2024. The work runs well past farm programs: IT and software, scientific services for the Agricultural Research Service, food procurement through the Agricultural Marketing Service, construction, professional services, and facilities support across the Forest Service and dozens of other USDA agencies.
The reason this matters for a small or diverse business: USDA sets aggressive small-business targets and publishes a usable pipeline of what it plans to buy. For FY2024 it aimed to award 57.5% or more of its contract dollars to small businesses, including 27.85% to small disadvantaged businesses. Most federal agencies treat 23% as the floor. USDA runs roughly double that. The path to a contract is mechanical once you know the steps.
Register before you bidYou cannot receive a federal award without an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov). SAM is the government-wide repository for both vendor registration and contracting opportunities valued over $25,000. Registration is free, and you should never pay a third party to do it.
Before you can register you need:
- A Unique Entity ID (UEI), assigned inside SAM.gov (it replaced the old DUNS number).
- An EIN from the IRS and a matching legal business name.
- Your relevant NAICS codes, which determine which size standards and set-asides you qualify under.
While you register, you self-certify your size and any socioeconomic status: woman-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and so on. That self-certification is what makes you visible to USDA contracting officers searching for set-aside-eligible vendors. If you are not sure which certifications fit your business, our certification guides walk through 8(a), WOSB/EDWOSB, HUBZone, and SDVOSB eligibility one at a time.
The set-asides USDA actually usesUSDA's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) exists to push the maximum practical share of contracts toward small firms. A contracting officer "sets aside" a solicitation when they restrict competition to a defined group. USDA buyers use the standard federal categories:
- Small business set-asides — open to any business under the relevant NAICS size standard.
- 8(a) — for firms in the SBA's business-development program for socially and economically disadvantaged owners. These can be competitive or sole-source.
- WOSB / EDWOSB — women-owned and economically disadvantaged women-owned small businesses, used in NAICS codes where women are underrepresented.
- SDVOSB — service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.
- HUBZone — businesses based in, and employing people from, historically underutilized business zones.
If a NAICS code carries one of these designations on a USDA solicitation, large competitors are locked out. That is the entire point. A correct self-certification plus the right NAICS codes is what gets you into that smaller pool. If paperwork is the blocker, CertifyAll handles the federal certification filings so you are eligible when a set-aside posts.
Find the work before it hits SAM.govTwo sources matter, and you should watch both.
SAM.gov opportunities
Every USDA solicitation over $25,000 posts to SAM.gov. Set up saved searches by NAICS code and by set-aside type so new notices reach you the day they publish. Watch for sources sought notices and requests for information — these run before a formal solicitation, and responding to them is how a contracting officer learns there are enough qualified small businesses to justify a set-aside.
The USDA forecast
USDA publishes a Forecast of Business Opportunities (the Procurement Forecast) through OSDBU. It listed nearly 6,000 planned contract opportunities for FY2024, filtered by the business types able to perform them, and OSDBU updates it as the year develops. This is the part most competitors skip. The forecast shows you what is coming months ahead, which agency owns it, and roughly when it lands. That lead time is what lets you build a relationship with the program office and shape your capability statement before the solicitation is written. Use our federal-spending data alongside the forecast to see which USDA agencies have actually obligated money to firms like yours.
Prime versus subcontractThere are two ways onto a USDA contract, and new vendors usually start with the second.
Prime means USDA pays you directly. You hold the contract and the performance risk. Smaller set-aside awards — under the simplified-acquisition threshold, currently $250,000 — are the realistic entry point for a first prime. They move faster and carry lighter compliance.
Subcontracting means you work under a company that already holds a USDA prime. Large primes carry subcontracting plans with their own small-business and diverse-supplier targets, which gives them a direct reason to bring you on. Find current USDA prime awardees in your NAICS code through SAM.gov and USASpending.gov, then approach them with a specific, narrow capability statement. A subcontract builds the past performance record that makes your future prime bids credible.
A realistic first 90 days- Register in SAM.gov and confirm your UEI is active and your NAICS codes are right.
- Self-certify every socioeconomic status you legitimately qualify for.
- Pull the USDA forecast and flag every opportunity in your NAICS codes for the next two quarters.
- Build saved SAM.gov searches and respond to sources-sought notices, even when you cannot yet prime the full job.
- Identify two or three current USDA primes in your space and pitch a subcontract.
USDA is methodical about its small-business numbers, so the firms that win are the ones who show up early, certified, and specific. Before you spend hours chasing solicitations, it helps to know where your real gaps are. Our government readiness tool scores your registration, certifications, and NAICS setup in a few minutes and shows you the next concrete step.
