Q Dealer contracts with Farmer to deliver 1000 bushels of barley at $3/bu. Contracts is generic and does not specify grade, or even quality. (contract calls for 'generic' grade, as in any old barley will do.) Due to the summer drought, Farmer's crop was destroyed. (Was it 'foreseeable', as in likely to happen? Did the contract 'assume' this risk?) The price of barley has risen substantially to $5/bu. because of the drought. Dealer sues for damages, Farmer defends on the doctrine of impossibility of performance. Is he correct? When you write a contract some 'conditions' are assumed. If something, an 'intervening event' happens that was not 'foreseeable', then the contract fails, and parties just walk away. So, take a look at these doctrines, including frustration of purpose and impossibility, and give an opinion on our dynamic. Cf. page 236-237 on Impossibility of Performance, et al.
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