Charles was a farmer who farmed 600 acres of land. Charles entered into a hand-shake contract with 4H Grain Company.
The agreement called for Charles to sell 20,000 bushels of corn to 4H in October, when Charles' corn crop would be harvested. The agreed price was to be $1.00 per bushel or $20,000. That amount was to be paid to Charles when he delivered the corn to 4H.
Unfortunately, there was a rain storm during the summer that damaged Charles' corn crop, and part of the corn crop failed. Because of that failure, Charles was only able to offer 9,000 bushels of corn to 4H in October.
4H refused the offer of part of the amount that was to be delivered by Charles and sued Charles for breach of contract to deliver corn. There is nothing in the contract that addresses this situation.
Assume that the facts given are admitted and not in dispute.
Is there anything that Charles can do to avoid breaching the contract? Does Charles have any defenses to breach of this contract? Who should win? Why?