The Butter Cow and Calf are Back and Butter Than Ever at the Ohio State Fair

The 2022 butter display honors the fair’s agricultural roots with the biggest display ever

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(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – For the first time since 2019, the American Dairy Association Mideast’s annual butter cow display is back at the Ohio State Fair and is bigger than ever, paying homage to the fair’s rich agricultural heritage.

The Ohio State Fair began more than 170 years ago and since then, the fair has grown, welcoming hundreds of thousands of guests each year to enjoy a variety of food, attractions, rides and concerts. But the roots of the fair remain grounded in agriculture, highlighting farm families and their contributions to our communities.

This year’s display features 10 life-size butter sculptures, including the traditional cow and calf, and for the first time ever, other farm animals — a pig, a lamb and a chicken — all being proudly shown by kids at the fair where they are being recognized for their hard work.

The display was created by expert sculptors over hundreds of hours in a 46-degree cooler that houses the buttery creations. Typically, the butter display is made from around 2,000 pounds, but this year’s record-breaking butter display is made of 2,530 pounds of butter, making it the biggest display in the fair’s history.

The annual butter display is presented by the American Dairy Association Mideast, and the theme is one of the best kept secrets leading up to the fair. This year’s display is expected to attract more than 500,000 fairgoers to the Dairy Products Building, where they can also learn about Ohio’s dairy farmers and enjoy delicious dairy foods including ice cream, milkshakes, cheese sandwiches and milk.

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For the first time ever, the traditional butter cow and calf are joined by other farm animals inside the butter cooler. This year’s butter display celebrates the agricultural roots of the fair, depicting young exhibitors showing their animals.

Madelyn Topp, 19, comes from a long line of dairy farmers. One of her favorite childhood memories is showing the dairy cows she and her family raised at the Ohio State Fair, a tradition that is being honored as the theme of this year’s butter display.

This year’s butter display recognizes the hard work of the kids who show their animals each year at the Ohio State Fair. It’s the first time that the traditional butter cow and calf are joined by other farm animals inside the butter cooler.

After missing the fair for the past two summers, the butter cow is not only back in the Dairy Products Building, but it’s the biggest display ever. The theme pays homage to the agricultural heritage of the Ohio State Fair.

A team of technical sculptors spent over 600 hours creating this year’s butter sculptures out of more than 2,500 pounds of butter, making it the biggest display ever at the Ohio State Fair.

The butter display returns to the Ohio State Fair this year, honoring the fair’s agricultural roots by depicting youth exhibitors who work hard to raise their animals and show them at the fair.

Madelyn Topp proudly displays one of the many trophies she earned showing her animals at the Ohio State Fair growing up. It’s a tradition that’s being honored this year as the theme of the much-anticipated butter display.

The traditional butter cow and calf are being shown by young exhibitors inside the butter cooler at the Ohio State Fair this year. The display, presented by the American Dairy Association Mideast, celebrates the fair's agricultural heritage.

The butter cow is back at the Ohio State Fair, and this year it’s being shown by a young exhibitor. Four other exhibitors in the display proudly show a calf, lamb, chicken and pig, all depicted in life-size butter sculptures. It’s a theme that honors the agricultural roots of the Ohio State Fair.

Technical sculptor Karen Tharp sculpts the chin of one of the butter sculptures inside the 46-degree cooler.

Technical sculptor Paul Brooke works inside a 46-degree cooler to chisel the details of this year’s butter display. Fairgoers returning to the fair this year can enjoy the biggest butter display ever, which took over 2,500 pounds of butter to create.

Technical sculptor Joe Metzler works on a butter sculpture of a child showing their animal at the fair. This year’s butter display theme pays homage to the agricultural roots of the Ohio State Fair.

Matt Davidson is not only a sculptor, but also an Ohio dairy farmer. For the first time since 2019, a team of technical sculptors worked inside a 46-degree cooler to create life-sized butter sculptures, one of the oldest and best-loved traditions at the Ohio State Fair.

Tammy Buerk sculpts the traditional butter calf inside a cooler at the Ohio State Fair. For the first time in three years, the butter display is back and bigger than ever. Fairgoers can gaze upon more than 2,500 pounds of butter, artfully crafted into life-size sculptures.

A team of technical sculptors were back inside the cooler at the Ohio State Fair for the first time in three years to sculpt the biggest butter display ever. More than 2,500 pounds of butter were used to create a massive display celebrating the kids who work hard to raise their animals and show them at the fair.



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