Panike & Sons Farms, Inc. v. Smith

212 P.3d 992 (2009)

Facts

P raises crops including onions. Four Rivers is an Idaho corporation organized for the purpose of purchasing onions from area growers, packing, and contracting to resell those onions nationwide. D is the general manager of Four Rivers. D entered into a contract with Four Rivers for the sale of onions from P's 2006 and 2007 onion crops. P was to deliver 25,000 hundredweight (cwt) 75% three-inch minimum field run onions to D from fields specified by D, for the price of $ 4.75 per cwt. The field selection clause stated the 'buyer will specify field(s).' P contacted D, who owns farmland adjacent to P's land to inform him that water leaking from D's ditch was running into P's field. D told P that Four Rivers would be designating the fields from which P was to deliver the 25,000 cwt of onions. P then informed D that P would not deliver onions from those fields, as those onions were a different variety and larger than those specified by the contract. On August 15, 2006, Four Rivers sent a letter reiterating that it would designate the fields from which the onions were to be delivered. Four Rivers sent another letter to P on August 25 designating the fields, with a map attached that illustrated which fields Four Rivers had chosen. P attempted to deliver two truckloads of onions, but when asked if the onions were from the specified fields, he stated they were not. D rejected the onions. P then had the onions inspected by the Idaho Department of Agriculture, which determined the onions were 89% three-inch minimum or larger. Four Rivers filed a lien on P's crops in the amount of $182,539.00 pursuant to the terms of the contract. P sued D. Judgment was entered in favor of Four Rivers in the amount of $329,124.79. P appealed.