Missouri Farmers Ass'n v. McBee

787 S.W.2d 756, 12 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 32, 1990 Mo. App. LEXIS 316, 1990 WL 17008
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 27, 1990
DocketWD 41753
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 787 S.W.2d 756 (Missouri Farmers Ass'n v. McBee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri Farmers Ass'n v. McBee, 787 S.W.2d 756, 12 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 32, 1990 Mo. App. LEXIS 316, 1990 WL 17008 (Mo. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

ULRICH, Judge.

Donald McBee appeals from judgment entered for Missouri Farmers Association, Inc. (MFA), a Missouri corporation, on MFA’s claim and his counterclaim, following a judge-tried case. The respondent filed suit on account for spraying appellant’s soybeans with a herbicide pursuant to agreement, and appellant counterclaimed for the net value of his soybean crop, alleging that the herbicide killed virtually all of his fifty-one acres of soybeans. The judgment is reversed in part and affirmed in part.

Donald McBee had farmed for more than forty-two years and had raised soybeans for at least twenty-five years. He farmed in Carroll County. Mr. McBee hired Jim Clevenger, a farmer who had grown soybeans for over thirty years, to plant his 1986 soybean crop. Mr. Clevenger planted *758 the crop on the 5th or 6th day of June, 1986.

On July 26, 1986, pursuant to agreement between MFA and Mr. McBee, MFA sprayed all but a fourteen-foot strip of Mr. McBee’s fifty-one-acre soybean field. Mr. McBee had requested that the respondent spray his soybean field for cocklebur. MFA selected the chemical sprayed and when and how the beans were sprayed. The soybeans were a good color and good height the evening before they were sprayed. The evening after the beans were sprayed, virtually all the sprayed beans on the fifty-one-acre field were brown, crumbly, dry, and within two or three days they were dead. The beans within the fourteen-foot unsprayed strip maintained their good stand and good col- or.

The evidence during trial consisted of testimony, exhibits and stipulated facts. Although the parties did not stipulate to the chemical sprayed, they stipulated that the sum of $749 was a fair and reasonable charge for the chemical sprayed and the service rendered and that the reasonable value of soybeans in 1986 was $4.60 per bushel. Mr. McBee estimated that he would have incurred a combining expense of $20 per acre, $1,020 for the entire field. He estimated that hauling expenses would have been $.15 per bushel, and he estimated the yield for the soybean field would have been 35 bushels per acre. He claimed damages for the loss of 1,785 bushels of soybeans at $4.60 per bushel totaling $8,211, less combining expense of $1,020 and hauling expense of $267.75. He claimed damages in the sum of $6,923.25.

Dr. George Wright, an employee of MFA and a soil expert testified as MFA’s expert witness. He has earned a masters degree and a Ph.D degree in soil chemistry. He examined Mr. McBee’s soybean field during the first week of September 1986. He had no personal knowledge what chemical was sprayed, and no other evidence was introduced identifying the chemical used. Overruling Mr. McBee’s objection, the court permitted the witness to testify that the chemical Dyanap was sprayed on Mr. McBee’s soybean crop. He testified that the chemicals Alanap and Dinitro are mixed to form Dyanap. The record is void of any evidence establishing how the witness knew or concluded the chemical sprayed.

Dr. Wright took soil samples in September 1986 from the acreage sprayed by MFA. The samples were sent to a University of Missouri laboratory for analysis. Presumably, the laboratory analysis report reflects the test results of the samples taken by Dr. Wright of Mr. McBee’s soybean field. No foundation was laid for the report’s introduction, and it was not admitted as evidence. Over Mr. McBee’s objection, the court permitted Mr. Wright to testify about the content of the laboratory report. Dr. Wright testified that the pH content of the soil samples was 5.1 and should have been 5.6 or higher for adequate soybean growth. He stated that the soil samples were ten times more acidic than is conducive to good bacterial activity to facilitate good soybean growth. The report, he said, reflected that the soil samples contained a phosphorus rating of 10, and he stated that “The University considers a reading of 4 to 6” best. The pH and the phosphorous content of the sampled soil, although not optimum, would not kill soybean plants and would not cause a green plant to turn brown and crispy within two or three days, Dr. Wright said. Dr. Wright also stated that the appellant’s soybean field was not worth combining when he saw it in September 1986.

Mr. McBee alleges two points of error. He contends, as point 1, that the weight of the credible evidence is against the judgment. As point 2, Mr. McBee contends that the court erred by permitting MFA’s expert witness, Dr. George Wright, to testify (a) what chemicals were sprayed on appellant’s soybeans, and (b) what the results were of the University of Missouri laboratory tests of the soil samples taken from his soybean field.

When reviewing a court-tried case this court will not disturb the trial court’s judgment unless it is against the weight of the evidence, is not supported by substantial evidence or erroneously applies or declares *759 the law. Citizens State Bank of Marshfield v. Friendly Ford, Inc., 686 S.W.2d 565, 567 (Mo.App.1985). Review is equitable in nature being upon both the evidence and the law. Watkins v. Johnson, 606 S.W.2d 493, 495 (Mo.App.1980).

Because this court’s ruling on point 2 affects the evidence considered, and, therefore, point 1, point 2 is reviewed first. Point 2 has two parts. Mr. McBee contends that the trial court erred by permitting MFA’s expert witness to testify (a) what chemicals were sprayed on appellant’s soybeans, and (b) what the results were of the University of Missouri laboratory tests of the soil samples taken from his soybean field.

Dr. Wright testified in behalf of MFA as an expert on soil chemistry. His credentials were not contested, and the trial court recognized him as an expert witness. He was asked on direct what chemical was used to spray Mr. McBee’s soybean crop. Mr. McBee voir dired the fitness before the witness answered the question, and Dr. Wright said he did not have personal knowledge of what chemical was used. Mr. McBee then objected that the witness was incompetent to testify what chemical was sprayed. The court overruled the objection and permitted the witness to state absent additional foundation that Dyanap was the chemical applied to Mr. McBee’s soybean crop. The witness explained what chemicals constitute Dya-nap and their effects on soybeans and specific undesired flora. He testified that Dyanap makes soybeans turn brown because it burns the leaves, but normally, soybeans recover when growing conditions are adequate. The expert’s testimony was significant because it was the only evidence of the chemical sprayed and its effect on soybeans and other foliage.

Dr. Wright did not have direct knowledge of the chemical sprayed. No one else testified what chemical was sprayed, and records of the chemical sprayed were not qualified as business records and were not introduced as an exception to the hearsay exclusion rule. Dr. Wright did not testify how he knew or concluded which chemical was sprayed. No competent evidence established the chemical sprayed on Mr. McBee’s soybean crop. The trial court erroneously overruled Mr. McBee’s objection, and Dr. Wright’s testimony of the chemical sprayed should have been excluded.

Dr.

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787 S.W.2d 756, 12 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d (West) 32, 1990 Mo. App. LEXIS 316, 1990 WL 17008, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-farmers-assn-v-mcbee-moctapp-1990.