200 acres of miscanthus go up in smoke

The controlled burn of a 200-acre miscanthus crop southeast of Lawrenceburg sent locals abuzz with speculation last Friday evening. Farmer Robert Long set the fire on his place in the evening hours, resulting in a plume that could be seen from Springfield and beyond. The monster cloud of smoke, which looked like a storm system, slowly made its way over Ash Grove, dropping ash as it passed over. An earlier attempt was made to bale the crop but was ultimately too wet for production. Although, not too wet to go up in flames. Shown above, more than 5 miles away, the giant mass of smoke descends on downtown Ash Grove.