Goodpasture, Inc. v. S & J FARMS, INC.

528 S.W.2d 99, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 3054
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 17, 1975
Docket6449
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 528 S.W.2d 99 (Goodpasture, Inc. v. S & J FARMS, INC.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Goodpasture, Inc. v. S & J FARMS, INC., 528 S.W.2d 99, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 3054 (Tex. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

OPINION

OSBORN, Justice.

This case results from damage to a peanut crop which allegedly was caused by the improper application of a herbicide. The jury found that the contractor who sold and applied the herbicide made application of an excessive amount of Planavin on Appellee’s peanut crop, and that this was negligence and a proximate cause of the damages found by the jury, but the jury found no negligence upon the part of Shell Chemical Company, the manufacturer of the product. Based upon such findings, the trial Court entered judgment against the Appellant. We affirm.

Several years prior to 1971, Shell Chemical Company manufactured and sold a herbicide called Planavin for use in weed control on cotton and soybean farms. In 1971, the product was cleared for use in raising peanuts. Prior to that time, Sam Oliver, as operator of S & J Farms, Inc., had actually used this herbicide on peanut crops by use of his own farm equipment in spraying the herbicide on the farm land while planting his crop.

At a meeting in the spring of 1971, a Shell representative advised West Texas area farmers concerning the use of Plana-vin and Mr. Oliver was told how to use this herbicide when planting peanuts. He subsequently contacted Appellant, who both sold and applied the product, and requested that they apply one pint per acre on a 55-acre tract where he planned to raise peanuts. The Planavin, together with a liquid fertilizer, was sprayed on the 55-acre tract on April 25, 1971, by Appellant’s employees using Appellant’s own equipment. Mr. Oliver then started running his harrow over the tract in order to incorporate the herbicide into the soil at the prescribed depth of an inch and a half to two inches. He then put a lister in the field and bedded the land and listed into rows. He planted his peanuts on May 28th with about four *101 inches knocked off the top of the beds and the seed planted below the soil treated with Planavin. He then started to water the field.

During this same planting season, Appel-lee provided the Texas A & M Extension Service at Stephenville, Texas, with a half acre out of his 55-acre tract for their use in raising peanuts under the same conditions as existed for its own crop. In addition, Appellee also planted another 56 acres of peanuts on a nearby farm where Mr. Oliver applied Planavin himself in the manner which he had previously used with his own equipment. His crop on this 56 acres produced 4700 pounds of peanuts per acre, which sold for $300.00 a ton.

By the end of June, Mr. Oliver concluded that the crop on which Appellant had applied Planavin was so damaged from an excessive application of the herbicide that it would be necessary to replant. He replanted in July and eventually made a crop of 700 pounds of peanuts per acre, which sold for $130.00 a ton less than his other crop. Thus, he concluded that he lost 2 tons per acre in production on the 55-acre tract where he had to replant, and incurred the cost of replanting and that this crop brought less per ton than would have been expected.

The jury found no negligence against Shell Chemical Company, but found Appellant made an excessive application of Pla-navin which was negligence and a proximate cause of the crop damage; that the quantity of Planavin in the soil at the time of the damage was in excess of the one pint per acre recommended, and that this was a proximate cause of the damage but not the sole cause; that Appellant applied more than one pint per acre which was negligence and a proximate cause of the damage, and that Appellee’s damages were $33,-930.00. The trial Court entered a take-nothing judgment against Shell Chemical Company and no appeal has been taken from that part of the judgment. Appellant appeals from the judgment against it which was based upon the jury verdict.

The first two points of error attack the jury findings that Appellant made an application of an excessive amount of Pla-navin on Appellee’s peanut crop and that it applied more than one pint of Planavin per acre to Appellee’s land. Certainly there is evidence contrary to such jury findings, particularly the testimony of L. T. Hawkins that he took only 55 pints of Planavin from Appellant’s warehouse for this job and that he only applied 55 pints which was not more than one pint per acre. But in passing on these “no evidence” points of error, this Court must consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the finding and disregard all evidence and findings to the contrary. Garza v. Alviar, 395 S.W.2d 821 (Tex.1965). Thus, we may not consider any of the testimony of Mr. Hawkins, which Appellant cites in support of its first and second points. In support of the jury finding, there is the testimony of Tommy Barton, an employee of Shell Chemical Company, that his inspection of the crop showed substantial damage and that the results of soil sample test showed up to seven pints per acre of Planavin at the time of its application. Richard Burner, an agronomist, did the soil sample analysis and his tests reflected from six to twelve times too much Planavin in the soil from the surface to a depth of four inches. In addition, Dr. Charles Simpson, from the Texas A. & M. University Experiment Station at Stephen-ville, concluded that the test crop which he was supervising had suffered herbicide effects when he examined the crop and replanted in July, 1971. We cannot say that there is “no evidence” to support the jury’s answers to Special Issues Nos. 2 and 6, and the first two points of error are overruled.

The Third Point of Error contends that the trial Court erred in entering judgment for Appellee because the jury found that the excessive quantity of Planavin in the soil was not the sole proximate cause of the damage to the peanut crop. That issue and answer are as follows:

*102 “ISSUE NO. 3B
“Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the excess quantity of Planavin in the soil, if you have so found, was the sole cause of the damage, if any, to the peanut crop?
“Answer ‘We do’ or ‘We do not’.
“Answer: We do not ”

The negative answer is nothing more than a failure of the one having the burden of proof to get an affirmative answer. It is not a finding to the contrary. C. & R. Transport, Inc. v. Campbell, 406 S.W.2d 191 (Tex.1966). This issue was apparently one requested by Shell Chemical Company, which with a favorable answer could have prevented a judgment against Shell, had it been found guilty of negligent conduct. There being no finding of negligence upon the part of Shell, this issue became immaterial, and the negative answer by the jury rendered it immaterial as a matter of law. The third point is overruled.

The fourth point contends that the answer to Special Issue No. 4 is against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence. That issue is as follows:

“SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 4

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
528 S.W.2d 99, 1975 Tex. App. LEXIS 3054, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/goodpasture-inc-v-s-j-farms-inc-texapp-1975.