BULLETIN NO.: MGR-95-054 TO: All Reinsured Companies All Risk Management Field Offices FROM: Kenneth D. Ackerman /s/ Michael Hand 12/28/95 Deputy Administrator SUBJECT: Dollar Denominated Coverage Presentation and Premium Calculation Software for Crop Insurance Sales Agents BACKGROUND: The Federal Crop Insurance Reform Act of 1994 requires that "Not later than the beginning of the 1996 crop year, the Corporation shall provide producers with information on catastrophic risk and additional coverage in terms of dollar coverage (within the allowable limits of coverage ...)." In June 1995, Risk Management personnel were asked to provide software to automate the 1996 crop year actuarial worksheet calculations done by agents. This software was developed and released August 1, 1995. A second release of the software was planned to include capabilities to import the actuarial data electronically to eliminate the need to refer to the paper actuarial documents, thus further simplifying the premium calculation process necessary for presentation of an offer to a producer. To address the legislative requirement, the worksheet automation software package has been expanded to allow a producer to request a range of desired premium payments per acre or various coverage levels per acre. The output for these requests are tables presenting the full range of premium costs and dollar coverage combinations that will allow a producer to make informed decisions on their risk management protection that best suits his/her situation. The Premium Calculation software has been developed for use by crop insurance agents to assist them in presenting and comparing the full range of crop insurance options to a producer. Risk Management has an unlimited license which allows the software to be copied as many times as needed without charge. Software capabilities, hardware requirements, and installation instructions are attached. ACTION: The Premium Calculation software and actuarial data are being distributed by Risk Management's Office of Research and Development. The Premium Calculation software is currently available on the Reporting Organization (RO) Server in Kansas City for downloading. Actuarial data should be extracted from the Actuarial Data Master (ADM) which is also available on the RO Server. Reinsured companies have the option to download the Premium Calculation software and supporting ADM data and copy/distribute the software and data to their agents as needed or desired. Updates and enhancements will be provided periodically via the RO Server. Call (816) 926-7910 for assistance with loading problems or software problems that are not covered by the on-line Help. Attachments ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FSA/Office of Risk Management Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0 Minimum Hardware/Software Requirements 1. Hardware: IBM PC or compatible, 386/486/Pentium processor. 2. Operating System: MicroSoft Windows 3.1 or newer. 3. Memory: At least 8 MB of RAM is recommended. The Premium Calculation software will run with 4 MB of RAM if the virtual memory option of Windows is used; however, the software's performance will be greatly impaired (slow). 4. Storage: The hard disk drive should have 16 MB of available space for the average user. The space requirements break down as follows: The PowerBuilder and ODBC libraries and driver files used by the application use 7 MB. (The PowerBuilder library files are required to be loaded on any PC that does not already have PowerBuilder V4.0.02 installed.) The Premium Calculation executable software, associated files, database, and backup database file take about 4 MB of disk space. The database will be deployed with cross-reference data already loaded (i.e., allowable state/county/crop/type/practice codes with definitions). The optional Help file takes approximately 0.5 MB of disk space. Another 2 MB of disk space should be allowed for loading the Actuarial Data Master (ADM) data into the database. Additional disk space may be required depending on the number of states and counties loaded. The Premium Calculation software will read and load ADM data from a text data file provided by Risk Management. Another 2 MB of disk space is temporarily required for the ADM loading process. Additional disk space may be required depending on the number of states and counties contained on the text file. After the data has been loaded into the database, the file can be removed and the space made available. NOTE: There are no restrictions on the number of copies of this application that can be made and distributed under the existing license held by Risk Management. However, any modifications to the source code (available upon request from the Actuarial Branch) must be made using a valid, licensed copy of PowerBuilder. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FSA/Office of Risk Management Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0 Software Capabilities Summary The Premium Calculation Software being released by the Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Office of Risk Management (FCIC) is a Windows-based crop insurance sales tool for agents, and provides mandated dollar coverage presentation options. Features of the software include: Tailored to agent needs with producer log and customized quote sheets. Electronic actuarial data loading tailored to counties in which the agent sells. Point-and-click screens with pull down selections and on-line Help. Minimal data entry required for a quote, with data carried over to facilitate multiple units and effects of options. Selection/presentation of price election and dollar coverage option s (i.e., premium cost per acre, and coverage per acre). Includes all published actuarial rates, prices, dates, options, factors. Automated calculations including: Liability (total and per acre); Guarantee (total and per acre); Premium (total and farmer-paid); Subsidies and administrative fees. Comparison of CAT coverage to all price/coverage possibilities. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FSA/Office of Risk Management Instructions for Installing Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0 1 Insert the Premium Calculation Software Disk 1 into the 3-1/2" floppy drive. 2. Run the SETUP program on the diskette. (This example uses drive A - your floppy drive may be different.) From Windows Program Manager, choose FILE>RUN and type: a:\setup The Premium Calculation checkbox should be checked If on-line Help is desired, the Help File checkbox should be checked Check the 2 checkboxes for PowerBuilder DLL Files and PB/ODBC Files (These 2 checkboxes do not need to be checked if you have PowerBuilder Version 4.0.02 installed on your computer.) Click the OK button When prompted for creating the directory c:\premium, answer YES If on-line Help is being loaded, answer YES when prompted for creating the directory c:\premium\help 3. When the installation is complete, a new Program Group should be added (refer to your Windows documentation for assistance). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FSA/Office of Risk Management Premium Calculation Software, Version 1.0 Instructions for Loading ADM Text Data After the Premium Calculation software has been successfully loaded, the next step is to load the database (c:\premium\adm.db) with ADM data so the application can execute. The ADM text file is available to be downloaded from the Reporting Organization (RO) Server in Kansas City. The text file has to be loaded only one time to populate the database. However, as new releases of the Actuarial Data Master (ADM) file are made available on the RO Server, they should be downloaded into the Premium Calculation database. The Premium Calculation software requires the following ADM record types (as determined from column 1 of each ADM record): 1 - Yield, Dollar Amount, Guarantee, and Rate Data 2 - Rate Factors 3 - Dates 4 - Prices 7 - FCI-32 Classification Listings (Producer) H - High Risk Factor Data O - Option Data M - Map Factor Data R - Rate Class Option Data (NOTE: It is very important that all of the ADM data be located in one text file before attempting to load the data into the Premium Calculation software database. Due to the large space requirements for the year-to-date ADM text file and the time required for the software to process and save the ADM data, we recommend that users create a smaller ADM text file that contains only the data for the desired counties/states.) To initiate the database load process from the Premium Calculation software, select the "Database Transfer" sub-menu item from the "Administration" menu, or click on the "Data Xfer" button located on the toolbar. The "Database File Transfer" window will open and allow the user to enter the name of the ADM text file. The user can opt to load all of the valid data into the database (by selecting the "Full Load File" button) or to load only selected counties/states (by selecting the Partial File Load" button). Click the "Load File" button to start the load process. If the "Partial File Load" option was selected, the software will read the ADM text file and then allow the user to select desired counties/states before the database load is executed.