Horton

Statement of Facts

In late 1980, plaintiffs and real parties in interest Alex and Jane Sarad, doing business as Janal Farms (hereafter plaintiffs), contracted with defendant and real party in interest Western Farm Service, Inc. (hereafter Western Farm), to spray their 68-acre citrus crop with a pesticide to control the potato leaf hopper which damages the rind of the citrus during the wintertime. According to the oral agreement, Western Farm and its employee, Ben Erickson, were “to recommend, sell and supply a suitable pesticide ----” Plaintiffs had previously warned Western Farm that their Valencia orange crop had suffered severe copper bum several years earlier due to application of a pesticide containing copper sulfate. Western Farm recommended a different pesticide also containing copper sulfate, to be applied in a “Bordeaux mixture or whitewash solution.” Western Farm’s original recommended mix included six parts hydrated lime for every two parts copper sulfate; the presence of the lime “safens” the mix, permitting the copper to attack the target pest while preventing copper damage to the crop.

Defendants and petitioners Horton and Crumbliss (hereafter petitioners)…