Seize the Edge: Agency Forecasts That Win GovCon Bids

The best capture managers scan agency forecasts long before solicitations reach SAM.gov. While competitors scramble to respond to an RFP they just discovered, a disciplined capture team has already spent months building customer relationships, shaping requirements, and positioning their solution as the obvious choice.

Federal agencies are legally required to publish forecasts 6 to 18 months before solicitation release. These forecasts are public, free, and packed with intelligence that capture managers can act on immediately, yet most companies either do not know where to find them or do not check them consistently. To close that gap, Lohfeld Consulting compiled a table at the end of this article that covers forecast sources across federal civilian agencies, the Department of Defense (also referred to as the Department of War), and the Intelligence Community (IC).

Why Forecasts Are a Capture Manager’s Most Underused Tool

Procurement forecasts exist because federal law requires agencies to give industry advance notice of anticipated contract actions above the simplified acquisition threshold. That runway is your competitive advantage. When you monitor forecasts consistently, you can:

• Identify opportunities months before formal solicitation
• Build customer relationships before access is constrained
• Influence requirements through RFIs, Sources Sought, and industry days
• Lock in top teaming partners before competitors do
• Develop a price-to-win strategy with adequate time for analysis
• Qualify or disqualify pursuits before investing bid and proposal dollars

Tips for Using the Agency Forecasts Table

Start with the portals, then go deep. SAM.gov and GSA’s Forecast of Contracting Opportunities (FCO) on the Acquisition Gateway aggregate agency forecasts into searchable dashboards. Filter by your NAICS codes to surface relevant opportunities quickly, then drill into the agency-specific forecast for richer detail, including set-aside designations, award dates, dollar ranges, and incumbent contract numbers. Paid subscription services like Deltek GovWin often identify which agency forecast is referenced and the date of the forecast.

Build a weekly monitoring cadence. Agency forecasts are updated throughout the fiscal year, so assign forecast monitoring as a defined responsibility of your business development function and treat it the same as your SAM.gov monitoring routine. When a forecast entry matches your NAICS codes and capabilities, document it in your pipeline tracker immediately.

Use forecast entries to drive proactive customer engagement. A forecast is an invitation to act, not a reason to wait. Reach out to the program office, attend industry days, respond to Sources Sought, and submit capability briefs; every touchpoint builds the customer intimacy that separates winning bidders from reactive ones. Finally, pay particular attention to recompete entries—they carry the highest probability of award because mission need, budget, and agency motivation are all already proven.

Put Your Capture Team on the Forecast Horizon

The table below gives your team a single starting point for monitoring opportunities across federal sources. Use it to build your monitoring cadence, populate your pipeline, and drive the early engagement that separates disciplined capture teams from reactive bidders.

Lohfeld Consulting helps GovCon companies build the capture strategies, customer engagement plans, competitive intelligence practices, and proposal processes that win federal contracts. In the last three years, we have supported more than 550 proposals, winning more than $170B for our clients, including the Top 10 government contractors. Contact us today to sharpen your capture discipline and get ahead of the forecast.

Continue Reading

• The State of Capture in 2026: What’s Changed Now?: Capture management is evolving quickly, and contractors that don’t start pursuit work 12 to 24 months before solicitation release are already falling behind. This blog breaks down what high-performing contractors are doing differently in 2026.

• How to Capture a Bid with Discipline and Authority: Spotting an opportunity in a forecast is only the beginning. This blog details how to run a pursuit with the structure, budget discipline, and leadership communication that turns early pipeline intelligence into a winning bid.

• How to Use AI for Ethical Competitive Intelligence Now: Once you identify an opportunity through forecast monitoring, competitive intelligence determines how you win it. This blog shows capture managers how to use AI tools ethically and effectively to outmaneuver competitors before the RFP drops.

Reference Table – Federal Agency Procurement Forecasts

Use these forecasts to identify upcoming opportunities before they are formally solicited on SAM.gov. Forecasts are planning tools and do not constitute government commitments. URLs are subject to change; if a link is broken, search the agency name + “procurement forecast” on SAM.gov. Many of the URLs are at a high level, and you may have to drill down a few links to get the forecast.

Agency/Organization	Forecast Name	URL
GOVERNMENTWIDE/CENTRALIZED PORTALS
SAM.gov	Contract Opportunities	https://sam.gov/opportunities
General Services Administration (GSA)/Acquisition Gateway	Forecast of Contracting Opportunities (FCO)	https://acquisitiongateway.gov/forecast
Acquisition.gov	Agency Recurring Procurement Forecasts (Index)	https://www.acquisition.gov/procurement-forecasts
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DoD) — TOP LEVEL
DoD/business.defense.gov	Defense Acquisition Forecasts (Archived + Active; some links on this page are broken)	https://business.defense.gov/Archived-Pages/Acquisition-Forecasts/
Defense Logistics Agency	Acquisition news and events	https://www.dla.mil/Acquisition/
ARMY
Army Materiel Command (AMC)	AMC Annual Acquisition Forecast	https://www.army.mil/osbp
Army Contracting Command (ACC)	ACC Small Business/LRAF and news about contracting events	https://www.army.mil/acc
Mission & Installation Contracting Command (MICC)	MICC contracting news and events	https://www.army.mil/MICC
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)	USACE Forecast for small business	https://www.usace.army.mil/Strategic-Partnerships/Small-Business/Upcoming-Contract-Opportunities/
U.S. NAVY AND MARINE CORPS
Dept. of the Navy — SECNAV OSBP	Long Range Acquisition Estimate (LRAE) for small business	https://www.secnav.navy.mil/smallbusiness/pages/lrae.aspx
Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD)	NAWCWD LRAF	https://www.navair.navy.mil/nawcwd/documents
Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA)	NAVSEA Long Range Acquisition Estimate (LRAE)	https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Small-Business-Partnerships/LRAE/
Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR)	NAVWAR 3-Year Long Range Acquisition Forecast	https://www.navwar.navy.mil/About/Small-Business-Programs/
Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP)	Overview of business opportunities	https://www.navsup.navy.mil/Business-Opportunities/Home/
Office of Naval Research (ONR)	ONR Long-Range Acquisition Forecast	https://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/small-business/long-range-acquisition-forecast
U.S. AIR FORCE AND SPACE FORCE
Air Force Office of Small Business Programs	Air Force & Space Force Acquisition Forecasts	https://www.airforcesmallbiz.af.mil/Small-Business/Acquisition-Forecasts/
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY (IC)
National Security Agency (NSA)	NSA Acquisition Resource Center (ARC)	https://www.nsa.gov/business/acquisition-resource-center/
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)	NGA Business Opportunities via ARC & SAM.gov	https://www.nga.mil/resources/Small_Business.html
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)	NeedipeDIA requirements for innovation	https://www.dia.mil/Business/Needipedia/
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)	NRO Acquisition Research Center (ARC)	https://www.nro.gov/Work-with-NRO/Acquisition-Research-Center/
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)	CIA ARC — Acquisition Resource Center	https://www.cia.gov/partner-with-cia/
Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)	ODNI Contracting & Business Opportunities	https://www.odni.gov/index.php/who-we-are/organizations/policy-capabilities/dpi/odni-s-partnership-vision/odni-current-partnership-opportunities
FEDERAL CIVILIAN AGENCIES
International Development and Agriculture
Dept. of Agriculture (USDA)	USDA OSDBU Procurement Forecast	https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/general-information/staff-offices/departmental-administration/office-small-and-disadvantaged-business-utilization-osdbu/forecast-business-opportunities
Commerce, Labor, and Treasury
Dept. of Commerce (DOC)	DOC Procurement Forecasts	https://www.commerce.gov/oam/vendors/procurement-forecasts
Dept. of Labor (DOL)	DOL Procurement Forecast	https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/centers-offices/business-operations-center/osdbu/procurement-forecast
Dept. of the Treasury	Treasury Forecast of Contract Opportunities	https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/small-business-programs/small-and-disadvantaged-business-utilization/forecast-of-contract-opportunities
Health, Education, and Social Services
Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS)	HHS MySBCX Forecast	https://www.hhs.gov/grants-contracts/small-business-support/contract-opportunities/index.html
Dept. of Education (ED)	ED Contract Forecast	https://www2.ed.gov/fund/contract/find/forecast.html
Social Security Administration (SSA)	SSA Small Business Forecast	https://www.ssa.gov/osdbu/contract-forecast-intro.html
Homeland Security and Justice
Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS)	DHS Acquisition Planning Forecast System (APFS)	https://apfs-cloud.dhs.gov/forecast/
Dept. of Justice (DOJ)	DOJ Forecast of Contracting Opportunities	https://www.justice.gov/jmd/doj-forecast-contracting-opportunities
Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment
Dept. of Transportation (DOT)	DOT Procurement Opportunity Forecast	https://www.transportation.gov/osdbu/procurement-forecast/summary
Dept. of Energy (DOE)	DOE Acquisition Forecast	https://www.energy.gov/osdbu/acquisition-forecast
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)	EPA Forecast of Contracting Opportunities	https://www.epa.gov/contracts
Housing, Interior, and State
Dept. of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)	HUD Procurement Forecast	https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/sdb/4cast
Dept. of the Interior (DOI)	DOI OSDBU Procurement Forecast	https://www.doi.gov/pmb/osdbu/forecast
Dept. of State (DOS)	DOS Procurement Forecast	https://www.state.gov/procurement-forecast/
Veterans Affairs and Human Capital
Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA)	VA OSDBU Acquisition Forecast	https://www.vendorportal.ecms.va.gov/eVP/fco/FCO.aspx
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)	OPM Business/Contracting Opportunities	https://www.opm.gov/about-us/doing-business-with-opm
Science, Technology, and Space
General Services Administration (GSA)	GSA Forecast of Contracting Opportunities	https://www.gsa.gov/small-business/forecast-of-contracting-opportunities
NASA	NASA Consolidated Agency-wide Acquisition Forecast	https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/forecast/
National Science Foundation (NSF)	NSF Acquisition Forecast	https://www.nsf.gov/about/contracting/forecast.jsp
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)	NRC Small Business Forecast	https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/contracting/small-business/forecast.html

---

By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow

Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals. As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube^(TM).