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Fact Sheet: Butter Sculpting

Princess Kay butter carving at MN State Fair

Background

  • The butter sculpting booth (in the Dairy Building, corner of Judson Avenue and Underwood Street) is a Midwest Dairy Minnesota State Fair exhibit sponsored by Minnesota’s nearly 1,800 dairy farmers. It’s one of the most popular attractions at the fair.
  • On the first two days of the State Fair, the newly crowned Princess Kay of the Milky Way has her likeness sculpted in butter. The sculpting continues during the fair with the other Princess Kay finalists serving as models for butter sculptures.
  • Each sculpture is carved from a 90‐pound block of Grade AA butter, which is produced exclusively for this event by Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI), in New Ulm.
  • Artist and Minnesota native Gerry Kulzer is the resident butter sculptor, crafting the likeness of Princess Kay on Thursday, Aug. 21, and Friday, Aug. 22. He will sculpt the nine finalists on the subsequent days of the fair.
  • Butter sculpting at the State Fair began as a way to highlight Minnesota’s claim as the “butter capital of the nation.”
  • Various butter sculptures were featured at the Minnesota State Fair from 1898 through 1927. In 1965, the American Dairy Association of Minnesota began its tradition of having the likenesses of dairy princesses sculpted in butter and constructed the original booth. In 2008, Midwest Dairy unveiled a larger, more energy-efficient butter‐sculpting booth.
  • Today, butter sculpting is a way to highlight the Princess Kay of the Milky Way program, one of Midwest Dairy’s programs for young leaders in the dairy industry. During her year-long reign, Princess Kay serves as a goodwill ambassador for Minnesota’s dairy farmers. She helps bring dairy to life for consumers and engages with the public about dairy’s nutritional stories and farmers’ commitment to environmental stewardship. Since its inception in 1954, more than 800 young dairy leaders have participated in the program as either Princess Kay or finalists.

Did You Know…

  • The temperature inside the rotating butter booth is 40 ̊F.
  • It takes approximately 2.5 gallons (21.5 pounds) of whole milk to make a pound of butter.
  • A complete butter sculpture takes about six hours to complete.
  • Butter sculpting as an art form began in the 1800s when frontier women molded and imprinted their homemade butter.