Hypothetical farming legal question...?

Question

Suppose a farmer planted 1,000 acres of corn.

The cost of the corn seed for the entire 1,000 acres was $500

Fuel costs for equipment do plant was $750

Other preparatory chemicals cost $250

Capital depreciation for equipment used in the time period was $2,500

Now assume that the rains came at the perfect times and besides the normal herbicides that he would need to apply, he would have to do very little and he was on track to yield a nice crop worth $50,000

Now lets say a competing farmer nearby plowed his entire field up one night. This was just before the corn was about to sprout but it ruined his entire crop.

Should the farmer collect...

A) The cost of seed and act of planting the crop ($4,000)

B) The cost of the seed only ($500)

C) The cost of what the crop would have been worth ($50,000)

D) The cost of everything ($54,000)

E) None of the above

There is no right or wrong answer, please provide your rational for the anwer you pick and then check back after I have chosen the best answer for a follow up question.

Answer 1

If the corn was about to sprout, then the weather, herbicides and any future labor is hypothetical.  I think the grower would be entitled to costs, labor, & depreciation.  If it was too late in the season to replant then he should be compensated for the harvest value.  The competition could also be charged with trespassing,vandalism, willful destruction of property, among other things.  He could also be sued for mental anguish,  unfair competitive practices, & if the farmer had a contract to sell the corn, he might be liable to the contractor for the value of the contract  

Answer 2

e. as other things could have happened like the cost of oil/gas/etc