[hyperthesis]

Context: they already had a verbal deal on the phone, then the buyer sent the terms by phone, and the farmer texted back a thumbs-up. They'd done similar, three times before, and he'd texted back "looks good", "ok" and "yup" - and subsequently delivered and got paid.

Background: market price went from $17 to $41 per bushel; the farmer didn't have it on hand; a crop failure possibility was later mentioned. [Maybe why the price increased?]

Note: the thumbs-up is just for assent - the parties still need to agree on terms etc (as they did here). In fact, the farmer argued that the flax contract differed from their previous durum contracts, because he didn't have it on hand, and usually required an "act of god" clause to cover crop failure - but crucially, the buyer didn't know this, so objectively, it would seem the same.

BTW: It's not binding: there's two higher courts in Canada. But the judge refutes the technical legal objections to this form of assent.