Harting v. Barton

This is a dispute over a farm lease and option to purchase agreement. The lease and option agreement required the lessee/optionee to farm the property in a “professional farm-like manner.” The dispositive question is whether testimony that established the farming standards in Columbia County was sufficient for the court to conclude that the lessee/optionee had failed to farm in a “professional farm-like manner.” The standard for farming practices is not statewide, like that for physicians and lawyers. Therefore, testimony that the lessee had failed to farm the property in a professional…