Neumiller Farms, Inc. v. Cornett

Neumiller Farms (defendant), a merchant buyer of potatoes, contracted to buy twelve loads from grower Cornett (plaintiff) at $4.25 per hundredweight, accepting the first three loads without complaint; after the market price fell sharply to $2.00, Neumiller began rejecting further deliveries as "inferior quality," even rejecting a load Cornett obtained from a third-party grower from whom Neumiller had itself recently bought potatoes at the lower market price. Cornett's expert testified the rejected potatoes were good quality, and Cornett could resell only a fraction of its potatoes elsewhere due to poor market conditions; the trial court awarded Cornett $17,500 in damages, and Neumiller appealed.