IBM Wins Spot on USDA’s FPAC Mission Area

IBM has won a spot on a blanket purchase agreement to provide software development services and digital modernization to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Production and Conservation mission area. The company may now compete for task orders with a combined worth of $620M over the next five years.

The FPAC mission area focuses on modernizing legacy applications that support the conservation programs administered by the Natural Conservation Service and Farm Services Agency, IBM said Tuesday.

"Technology has incredible potential to transform the way governments serve citizens and accomplish critical missions. IBM is proud to have the opportunity to work with the USDA to help achieve higher levels of digital modernization,” said Jay Bellissimo, IBM's general manager for U.S. public sector and federal market.

Bellissimo said that IBM's experience in digital modernization will help farmers and ranchers reduce soil erosion, enhance water supplies, improve water quality, increase wildlife habitats and reduce damage caused by natural disasters.

FPAC supports farmers, ranchers and other stewards of private agricultural lands and non-industrial private forest lands. The mission area's guidelines direct agencies to create programs for farming risk mitigation, conservation, technical assistance, lending and disaster programs. 

IBM said that it has spent more than 90 years working with USDA on projects with FPAC, the Forest Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Agriculture Marketing Service.

USDA is responsible for developing and implementing federal laws related to farming forestry, rural economic development and food.

IBM is an information technology and services company headquartered in New York City. It specializes in cloud, mobile, security, research, consulting, commerce, the internet of things, technology support and resiliency services, among others.