Opinion ID: 2607963
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: loss of crops

Text: The plaintiff provided no evidence as to the value of brome and clover hay, and the trial court properly could not have made an award for the destruction or diminution of the brome and clover crop. This leaves only the question of damages for the loss of the alfalfa hay crop. The plaintiff's evidence showed that he usually made his first cutting of alfalfa about July 1st. The damage to the crop occurred June 15th. The defendants conceded that because the crop was so close to maturity the plaintiff could properly claim damages for the value of the hay he would have received on the first cutting, but objected to the allowance of damages for any subsequent crops. Plaintiff made no showing of the amount of alfalfa hay he would have recovered from the first cutting had the damage not occurred. The plaintiff testified as to what the yield had been on the 22 acres during the past years; and what the yield was in 1965 on the one acre on which the alfalfa was not destroyed. There was evidence as to the average yield of alfalfa in the area. But there was no testimony or evidence as to what the yield would have been had the alfalfa been harvested just before the destruction, or even what the yield would have been on the first cutting. All estimates were for the yield of both the first and second cuttings. Under the theory on which plaintiff proceeded, he is entitled at most to damages for the value of the crop at the time of the first cutting only, and not for damages for the value of the subsequent crop at the time of the second cutting. Since there was no evidence as to the amount of alfalfa hay there was at the time of destruction it matters not that the plaintiff made a showing of what price he had to pay for alfalfa hay. Even if his showing of the value per ton of alfalfa hay which he purchased was proper, there was no way the trial court could equate it to the plaintiff's loss since there was no showing of the quantity of hay damaged or destroyed. While the objective in awarding damages is to compensate the injured party for his loss, such damages, while they may not always be calculated with absolute certainty, must be susceptible of ascertainment with a reasonable degree of certainty. Blakeman v. Gopp, Wyo., 364 P.2d 986, 991. The judgment of the trial court must be modified so that the total damages awarded the plaintiff shall be the sum of $5,550, together with costs of $132.30. The trial court is therefore instructed to so modify the judgment. Affirmed as modified.