Pre-solicitation Notice with Intent to Sole Source - Moody's Lending Cloud

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Business Center, on behalf of the Farm Service Agency (FSA), intends to award a sole-source, firm-fixed-price contract to Moody’s Analytics, Inc., located at 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007. This procurement is conducted in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 12.102(b) for the acquisition of commercial services. The USDA requires continuous Operations and Maintenance (O&M) along with Development, Modernization, and Enhancement (DME) services for the USDA Farm Business Plan (FBP) Tool. Background and Requirement Description: The USDA FSA administers and guarantees loans to family farmers and ranchers to purchase farmland and finance agricultural production. These programs deliver critical financial credit at reasonable rates and terms to limited-resource farmers, beginners, and producers recovering from natural disasters. The FSA Deputy Administrator for Farm Loan Programs (DAFLP) manages and underwriting these nationwide operations using the deployed FBP system. The FBP system is powered by Moody’s Lending Cloud (formerly the Lending Suite). FSA has utilized this platform since its inception in FY 2004 to automate the farm business planning process, perform comprehensive financial and credit analysis, conduct loan origination and servicing functions, and manage the active Farm Loan Programs (FLP) portfolio. Sole Source Justification: Moody’s Analytics, Inc. is the sole developer, owner, and provider of the Moody’s Lending Cloud software. The platform relies on highly specialized, proprietary software code that is not licensed to, or available through, any third-party resellers or partner networks. FPAC enterprise architects, system specialists, and FSA technical personnel have determined that replacing the Moody’s Lending Cloud software with an alternative Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software package or a newly developed custom IT application is technically and financially unfeasible at this time. A replacement would trigger severe operational disruption, jeopardize loan portfolio management continuity, and result in substantial duplication of costs that the government cannot recover through competitive procurement. Consequently, Moody's Analytics, Inc. is the only source capable of providing the required configurations, enhancements, and technical support without causing unacceptable delays and programmatic risk to national agricultural credit operations. Instructions to Industry: This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. All responsible sources who believe they can provide the capability may submit a capability statement, proposal, or quotation, which may be considered by the agency. Interested vendors must demonstrate how they can provide the required O&M and DME services without infringing upon the proprietary data rights of the existing Moody's Lending Cloud infrastructure. Capability statements must be submitted electronically to the Contract Specialist no later than August 28, 2026, at 12:00 PM EST. Point of Contact: Crystal Baird Contract Specialist Email: crystal.baird@usda.gov