After feeding the dairy cows on a Saturday morning, Springfield farmer Jared Blackwelder and his wife Misty heard loud crashes and didn’t give it much thought.

However, as Blackwelder returned to the pasture to collect the cows for the evening milking, he came upon a heartbreaking sight: his 32 dairy cows piled on top of each other, dead on the mulch.

Coday was advised by a local vet who conducted the inspection that lightning was indeed the cause of death for the cows.

It’s possible that the cows took shelter behind the trees together as the storm raged overhead.Recent bad weather and flooding have wreaked havoc on the region.