Really? I know there are clauses due to poor crop years so that you get prorated amounts of what you contracted. If they can sell out from under you, what kind of a contract is that?
It's a contract to buy. If the grower has the hops then the buyer has to buy them at the agreed price but the grower is not committed to tender the hops to fulfill the contract. Generally the farmers are going to fulfill contracts because they want those guarantees before committing cash to fields but they don't want to be on the hook for paying the costs of a bad harvest caused by natural factors.
Yeah, I get that part about the poor crop harvest. One of the local breweries only got 1/2 or 2/3 of the Saaz contract back in 2007/2008 due to the poor harvest in Saaz region. Adjustment had to be made to keep a popular beer flowing.
What I was questioning them selling to the highest bidder, i.e. the big brewers. Do the farmers and brokers sell to the highest bidder in a poor year, not honoring the contracted portion? The spot market would be the Wild West, as it can be.