Release Notes 7.105.0

Batch Printing: TFS #100209 was implemented in the 7.095 release as a workflow improvement to allow a user to save multiple files in one step if they were created in a large batch print job. Previously, the System was designed to create multiple PDF files as large batch jobs are being generated.

It was found during UAT that if the policy file was a Dec Page, only 6 of many different files would download due to Chrome having a built-in connection limitation of 6 concurrent connections. When bulk downloading large files (e.g., >8 MB) at higher numbers (in the test case, it was 30 PDF files from the batch print job), the 6 connection limit gets hit and Chrome closes connections. Because it's not possible to adjust the limitation within a 3rd party browser, a workaround was applied to slow the connection opening. A 2-second delay has been added to each open connection, which should give the file enough time to download before the last file completes and triggers the next. If problems continue, the delay will need to be extended to be longer than 2 seconds as the files download.

Previously, the API / PRF Combo Form and Raisin Acreage / Tonnage Report was not attaching to the correct year when the form was printed with the "Pre-print for next year" print option selected. The API / PRF Combo Form and Raisin Acreage / Tonnage Report has been updated to attach to the correct year when the form is printed with the "Pre-print for next year" print option selected.

An enhancement request was received to add a print option that will allow the user to select the Schedule of Insurance (SOI) / Production Report to print as an SOI or a Production Report for the QR Code for Batch Scanning. The Schedule of Insurance (SOI) / Production Report has been updated in the following ways for all Crop Years:

NOTE: TFS #102474 has been set up to test the roll piece of this ticket in a future release.

ICE: The Private Product Confirmation of Coverage forms were updated to display the Product Type for ICE.

Private Products: The Print Forms/Select Policy Forms to Print was not refreshing if a user went back into the policy to add endorsements or coverage and instead showed the previously selected forms. The Select Policy Forms to Print functionality was updated to refresh with no forms selected if the user goes back into the policy for any reason.

The 2020 RY is now available for selection in the Reinsurance Year dropdown.

Contract Seed Beans & Peas: RMA has updated the Reference Year Adjustment Factor (RYAF) procedures for Contract Seed Beans and Contract Seed Peas for 2019+ RYs. Per the 2019 RYAF bulletin issued by the Spokane RO, the only changes for 2019 are as follows:

All other procedures remain unchanged. See the Spokane RO bulletin regarding 2019 RYAF for Contract Seed Peas and Contract Seed Beans. So, with this ticket, the following changes have been made:

During internal testing of this ticket, an issue was identified in Fast Edit AR. The System is not allowing a contract price to be keyed for Contract Seed Peas or Contract Seed Beans because the CP option is not applied to the detail line; however, the CP option is not available in the ADMs for Contract Seed Beans or Contract Seed Peas. TFS #102737 has been set up to address this issue.

Premium Calculation: In RMA's production release in April, changes to the calculations for Plans 01, 02, 03, and 90 Contract Seed Bean and Contract Seed Pea were implemented (Dry Bean Type 62 and Dry Pea Type 98). THESE CHANGES WERE MADE FOR THE 2018 AND 2019 RYs. See RMA Exhibit P11-1 (Plans 01, 02, 03) and P11-9 (Plan 90) for additional reference for the 2018 and 2019 changes. Premium calculation changes were implemented for 2018+ for contract types only.

WFRP: A Request CIMS checkbox was added to WFRP coverages. Previously, the CIMS Request checkbox was only available for underlying MPCI coverages. This checkbox will default to selected for all new WFRP coverages. The checkbox may also be set manually by the user for carryover coverages. When the checkbox is selected, the coverage will be picked up a CIMS transmission. When history is received from RMA and imported back into the System, the request flag will be removed so the coverage is not picked up in subsequent transmissions. All other standard CIMS functionality applies.

NOTE: During testing of this ticket, some necessary additional DB work was identified. TFS #102552 has been created to update new DB field CIMSLastReceivedDate implemented with TFS #100158 in the 7.105 release. This change will be applied in the 7.110 release.

RMA modified rounding rules for the price election in the ICE table, D00133, used in calculating premium within the System. This rounding change (from 2 places to 4 places after the decimal) was implemented as a result of the change in the unit of measure for Sugar Beets beginning in the 2019 RY. The change from tons to pounds introduced a need for greater precision on the price calculation. The System rating engine was updated to accommodate the rounding logic for the 2019 RY. At the time of implementation, the RMA cost estimator had not yet been updated. MCT tested this rating change by sending up test files for the to AIP test.

Companion Policy: During internal testing of the new Companion Policy functionality, an issue was found within Fast Edit AR. After companion links were established on the source policy and the user tried to complete Fast Edit AR on the companion policy, a "Sorry..." error was thrown if a related STAX coverage existed. Subsequent saves were required to successfully complete Fast Edit AR. The Fast Edit AR save logic has been updated to account for the additional companion policy functionality and now saves as expected with no errors.

NOTE: This "Sorry..." error was only being thrown on the companion policy's Fast Edit AR when a related STAX coverage existed for the crop that was being updated.

Companion Policy: The System should automatically break the companion policy linkage if the agency is changed on either the source or companion policy. Previously, it was only breaking the link if the agency was changed within the Maintain Grower page. With this ticket, the Internal Transfer wizard logic has been updated to now account for the companion policy automatic link-breaking.

STAX & SCO: When the Stacked Income Protection Plan (STAX) was introduced through the Farm Bill in 2015, producers were not allowed to enroll Seed Cotton in the Agriculture Risk Protection (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs that are administered by the Farm Service Agency (FSA). In February of 2018, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed into law, which included provisions to allow producers of Seed Cotton to now have the ability to participate in ARC and PLC. Due to this change, modifications were also made to the Federal Crop Insurance Act (Act) stating that acreage enrolled in these programs would be ineligible for coverage under STAX.

A new Enrolled in ARC or PLC checkbox will display on the Add New, View, and Maintain Detail Line pages to identify STAX Ineligible acreage if the coverage is a stand-alone STAX (Plan 35 or 36) or if the coverage is a related base coverage to a STAX coverage (Plan 35 or 36) and the SE option is elected on the coverage. This checkbox can only be selected if planted, insurable acres exist on the detail line. Upon save of the page, the System will apply the Uninsurable designation and NonPremium AR Code to the STAX stand-alone detail lines, STAX SE child lines, related STAX detail lines, and related STAX SE child lines, and so that they will not rate, the baseline will still be Insurable. Users will be responsible for identifying Cotton acreage enrolled in ARC/PLC that is ineligible for STAX and SE STAX coverage and selecting the Enrolled in ARC or PLC checkbox accordingly.

Functionality was implemented to allow users to indicate when Cottonseed acreage and STAX acreage is enrolled in ARC or PLC and, therefore, ineligible for STAX coverage. The current STAX functionality will not be changed; however, additional functionality will be implemented to allow the SE child lines and STAX stand alone and related detail lines to be designated as Uninsurable due to being enrolled in ARC/PLC. Standard detail line functionality will not be affected and the standard STAX functionality will not be affected so long as the Enrolled in ARC or PLC checkbox is not selected. All changes will be applicable to only the Add New, View, and Maintain Detail Line pages when the coverage is a STAX coverage, related to a STAX coverage, and the SE option is elected.

Per the PASS Release Notes from 11/9, RMA is updating their rules to allow a Primary County designation on more than one P14 record for Margin Protection when multiple P14s exist by Type/Practice. With TFS #96917 in the 7.070 release, the System was updated to allow multiple coverages for Margin Protection to be designated as a Primary County, so long as the Type and/or Practice are different between the coverages. During testing of this ticket, an additional issue was found where the System did not allow more than one added county coverage to actually be created. Once one of the Margin Protection Added County coverages was created, the System would throw an error stating a coverage already exists for the State/County, when attempting to create additional Added County coverages by Type/Practice. With this ticket, Added County functionality was added to allow users to create multiple Added County coverages for Margin Protection so long as the Type and/or Practice are different between the coverages.

During internal QA testing of this functionality a couple of bugs were identified:

Additional Functions: A report was made that the Additional Functions option to recalculate premium and APHs was not working. After further research, it was found there were a couple of scenarios where the recalculation tool wasn't resaving the APH as expected—both scenarios dealt with the state/county/crops where the RMA RO office modified t-yield map areas for the 2019 RY. There are scenarios in 2019 where the RO completely eliminated t-yield map areas that existed in prior years and other scenarios where t-yield map areas were modified from prior years but map areas still exist in the current RY. A change has been implemented to force the recalculation of the APH if the state/county/crop changed from having t-yield map areas in 2018 to not having t-yield map areas in 2019. In these instances, the recalculation process will update the APH with a current year yield. If there were map areas in 2018 but different map areas in 2019 and the user has not yet selected a map area, the System will bypass the recalculation process as designed.

BFR: Beginning in the 2019 Reinsurance Year (RY) for policies with a Sales Closing Date (SCD) of 12/20/2018 or later, RMA has expanded the Beginning Farmer Rancher BFR) program to allow a grower to qualify for 10 years of BFR benefits on Whole Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP) policies rather than the standard 5 years of eligibility for all other plan types. Existing System functionality for BFR includes the ability to key all required information for each grower or individual with a substantial beneficial interest in the farming operation on the BFR Certification page. This functionality is accessed via the Tools menu (Tools > BFR Certification).

In addition to the BFR Certification functionality, the System also includes a BFR checkbox on the View Grower for Policy page. When this checkbox is selected, the user then has the ability to enter the remaining years of eligibility as well as an AIP Approval Date. Once an AIP Approval Date is applied, the System will waive the admin fees and apply an additional 10% premium subsidy. To account for the 2019 BFR changes described above, the following System changes have been made: