Wintry New Developments
This Winter issue includes some exciting new developments in our Commodity Procurement Program. We are revamping our outreach efforts to New Vendors, investing on a Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA), conducting WBSCM trainings and preparing for a virtual USDA food contractors and suppliers industry meeting. This issue also highlights an overview of the food aid disruption in Ethiopia due to the civil conflict, USDA’s upcoming Agricultural Outlook forum, as well as a feature on the Operations Branch within the Web Based Supply Chain Management Division (WBSCM).
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The mission of the Agricultural Marketing Service’s Commodity Procurement Program (CPP) is to purchase a variety of domestically produced and processed commodity food products, through a competitive process among approved vendors. These purchases made by the AMS Commodity Procurement Program (CPP) support American agriculture by encouraging the consumption of domestic foods. The wholesome, high quality products are delivered to schools, food banks, and households across the country and to countries around the world. CPP is looking for new vendors to participate in its purchase programs. CPP is planning on a number of events and resources to help get the word out. Increasing the number of approved vendors not only supports American farmers and ranchers but it also increases our ability to feed hungry Americans and people around the world.
CPP also offers small business set-asides programs for certain commodities in which only small vendors can participate. These small businesses include: Small Disadvantaged Business, 8(a) business, Veteran Owned & Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, Women Owned Small Business and Certified HUBZone Small Businesses. There are several upcoming events for you to keep an eye out for:
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Partnerships: CPP wants to connect with potential vendors through the assistance of industry groups, Small Business Administration Regional Representatives, and other Programs within the USDA.
Social Media: CPP believes in our mission and will be sharing our story hoping that vendors will want to participate in our program. Visit our AMS social media platforms for more information: Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
One-on-One: CPP knows the new vendor process may seem intimidating at first, but with our guidance we hope to take the mystery out of the process. Please email our New Vendor email, NewVendor@usda.gov, to schedule a meeting with our New Vendor Coordinators. In addition, review our Commodity Procurement website (in particular, our New Vendor webpage), and familiarize yourself with who we are and what we purchase. Don’t forget to take advantage of small business assistance with federal contracting by visiting the Small Business Administration website and your local Procurement Technical Assistance Center.
Quarterly Webinars: Beginning February 15, 2022, CPP will be hosting quarterly webinars that not only will feature how to become an approved vendor but will also focus on other areas of interest such as small business set asides and subcontracting. See link below for more information on the upcoming webinar and feel free to sign up to automatically receive notices from CPP about our outreach events.
CPP is excited to create more market opportunities for domestic vendors.
We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming Webinar!
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Elizabeth Lober, Assistant to the Deputy Administrator
A “Build Back Better” Initiative
The Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA) is part of the “Build Back Better” initiative, authorized by the American Recue Plan and will award non-competitive cooperative agreements. The purpose of this program is to maintain and improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency and will award up to $400 million through non-competitive cooperative agreements with state and tribal governments to support local, regional, and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers through the purchase of domestic local foods. USDA will provide technical assistance, instruction, and monitor the program for success.
Additional information and resources: Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program | Agricultural Marketing Service (usda.gov)
Questions about the LFPA program can be submitted through LFPA@usda.gov
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Dan Webber, Branch Chief, International Commodity Procurement Division
Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country. Officially, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea and Djibouti to the north, Somaliland to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west and Sudan to the northwest. Ethiopia has a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometers (420,000 sq mi) and over 117 million inhabitants and is the 12th-most populous country in the world and the 2nd-most populous in Africa after Nigeria. The national capital and largest city, Addis Ababa, lies several kilometers west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the African and Somali tectonic plates. It has been wracked by internal strife that has caused the need for humanitarian assistance from other countries.
In terms of volume, Ethiopia has been near the top of the list of countries receiving food aid for several years. In the previous two years, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has purchased approximately one million metric tons of food valued at nearly $351 million. Due to the on-going conflict though several shipments of packaged commodities have had to be delayed or diverted. A large bulk grain contract for over 98,000 metric tons of hard red winter wheat awarded in September had to be cancelled. The contract was valued at over $31 million dollars and was slated for multiple inland delivery point throughout Ethiopia. In January of 2022, AMS was able to re-purchase the wheat although some of the final delivery locations have been changed.
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Brian Lawson, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, WBSCM Management Division
Recent enhancements to the Electronic Invoicing (eINV) Process for Domestic Shipments now provides vendors with new fields during shipment confirmation to facilitate invoice processing and approval, especially when there are over/short/damages, late deliveries, or when shipped vs. delivered quantities do not match.
The shipment receipt, also known as the Goods Receipt (GR), is created when the recipient records the delivery received in WBSCM. The shipment receipt details include: who signed for it, the quantity, and may include any over, short, damages or rejections to the shipment. As part of the vendor confirmation process, the vendor has the ability to update the received quantities and accept Liquidated Value Adjustments (LIQ), as needed, which triggers different shipment approval statuses in order for the electronic invoice (eINV) to be generated in WBSCM.
The WBSCM Team recently led two trainings in 2021 to demo the enhancements to the eINV process and one training in 2022.
Agricultural Outlook Forum 2022
 You’re Invited to USDA’s Premier Annual Event: February 24-25, 2022
You’re invited to USDA's largest annual gathering and one of the agricultural sector's premier events—the 2022 Agricultural Outlook Forum. This year’s theme is “New Paths to Sustainability and Productivity Growth.”. The Forum will be held virtually on February 24-25, 2022 and will feature an exceptional lineup of topics and speakers.
- Join Chief Economist Seth Meyer as he unveils USDA’s initial forecast for the agricultural economy, commodity markets, and trade in 2022 and discusses the U.S. farm income situation.
- Learn from more than 100 subject matter experts, executives, and academics as they discuss some of the most pressing issues impacting agriculture and potential solutions.
- Get the latest on innovations and technologies designed to achieve sustainable environmental outcomes while increasing agricultural productivity.
Registration is free but required to attend the Forum. For more information, see the Forum's
Program at a Glance.
Don’t miss your chance to hear the latest updates from industry leaders.
https://www.usda.gov/oce/ag-outlook-forum
Follow the conversation at #AgOutlook on USDA’s
Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and OCE’s Twitter
Follow us on Social Media (#AgOutlook)
@USDA_OCE @usdagov @USDA
Save the Date: March 1-3, 2022
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) invites industry stakeholders to virtually join us on March 1-3 for the 2022 Annual USDA Foods Contractors and Suppliers Industry Meeting to discuss commodity purchase programs and USDA Foods.
This meeting offers a great opportunity to share new information about the purchase program and provides opportunities to collaborate with other supplier and contractor stakeholders to improve the program. We look forward to virtual seeing returning vendors as well as new vendors from all industry groups.
Stay tuned for more information on how to register in the coming weeks!
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From Top to Bottom (L to R): Wayne Brewer, Heather Calhoon, Matthew Martin, Kidane Mawsha, Greg Drummond, Brian Lawson, Andre Nelson. Photo courtesy: USDA WBSCM Operations Branch (WOB)
WBSCM Operations Branch (WOB)
In this section, we introduce a group of employees from the Commodity Procurement Program. In this edition, we are introducing the second of three groups within the Web Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM) Division, which is the WBSCM Operations Branch (WOB).
Heather Calhoon, WBSCM Operations Branch Chief, is responsible for ensuring her team delivers excellent customer service through our dedicated WBSCM Help Desk along with monitoring continued maintenance needs of WBSCM. Outside of work, Heather enjoys spending time visiting National Parks in the National Capital Region and traveling abroad when able.
Matthew Martin, Agricultural Marketing Specialist Team Lead, WBSCM Operations Branch, is responsible for supporting all aspects of WBSCM system related activities, i.e. customer support help desk activities, testing, and training related to the improvement and operation of WBSCM. Outside of work, Matthew enjoys fly-fishing, hiking, collecting records, and watching any Auburn University related sport.
Brian Lawson, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, WBSCM Operations Branch, is responsible for the creation and maintenance of WBSCM Materials and assists with the WBSCM Help Desk. Outside of work, Brian enjoys traveling and hiking.
Wayne Brewer, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, WBSCM Operations Branch, assists internal and external users of the WBSCM with procedures, processes, errors, and technical problems. Assists in the testing of system updates. Outside of work Wayne enjoys travelling, playing Texas Hold’em; listening to music; converting his large collection of vinyl LP’s to digital format; having dinner out; swimming; high intensity workouts; watching Formula 1 racing; going into the Everglades with his telescope to view the sights in the dark skies; and taking his Shelby GT and California Special Mustang to various road racing tracks in Florida to drive to the limits of his abilities.
Kidane Mawsha, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, WBSCM Operations Branch, provides WBSCM vendors support in resolving incidents, document review, defect testing, vendor training. Enjoys watching basketball games, family & friends reunion gathering outside of work.
Greg Drummond, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, WBSCM Operations Branch, supports internal CPP users and vendors with WBSCM related activities and issues. This includes adding new users, registering new vendors, conducting WBSCM training sessions, and assisting users with processing transactions, making corrections, and troubleshooting errors. He also assists with the review of documentation and defect testing to ensure that WBSCM changes does not negatively affect availability and performance. Greg enjoys travelling, cooking, family time, and watching football and soccer.
Andre Nelson, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, WBSCM Operations Branch, supports internal CPP users and vendors with WBSCM related activities and issues. Duties include registering new vendors, conducting WBSCM training sessions, and assisting users with processing transactions, making corrections, and troubleshooting errors. In his spare time, Andre loves to support all DC Area sports team. He also loves spending time with his wife and children.
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