Springfield farmer Jared Blackwelder and his wife Misty didn’t think much of the loud crashes they heard after feeding their dairy cows one Saturday morning. However, when Jared went to the pasture later to gather the cows for evening milking, he discovered a devastating scene: 32 of his dairy cows were dead, piled on top of each other.

A local vet confirmed that lightning was the cause of death, likely striking as the cows huddled under trees for shelter. Stan Coday, president of the Wright County Missouri Farm Bureau, said, “It’s a common occurrence, but the sheer number of cows made this event particularly tragic.”