Jul 22, 2025 - News

Butter cow puts on a hard hat at 2025 State Fair

Alissa Widman Neese

Large butter sculpture of a cow wearing a construction helmet with an ear tag labeled 2025, displayed indoors with a similarly colored human figure sculpture in the background. — The butter cow is an iconic Ohio State Fair tradition and you can view it inside the Dairy Products Building. Photos: Courtesy of the American Dairy Association Mideast

This year's butter cow display is udderly self-aware, poking fun at the ongoing renovations at the Ohio State Fairgrounds.

Zoom in: "Pardon Our Dust" notes a sign near the 2,000-pound buttery construction crew.

The display features the iconic cow and calf in hard hats, as well as workers operating a jackhammer, studying blueprints and talking into a two-way radio.
It also includes scaffolding, sawhorses and safety cones.

Sculptures of a female construction worker holding blueprints, a calf wearing a hard hat, and a cow, all made from a pale material, displayed with construction blueprints and caution tape. — Each year, the butter cow display features a different theme.

By the numbers: Ohio-based sculptors spent approximately 400 hours creating the display, including about 335 hours working inside the 46-degree cooler, according to the American Dairy Association Mideast.

What's next: The Expo 2050 plan calls for several facility upgrades. The project started in 2023 and its budget so far is $460 million.

Renovations to the Dairy Products Building, which houses the yearly butter display, will be completed in 2026.

Stop by: The fair opens Wednesday morning through Aug. 3. Check out our guide recapping everything you need to know.

Butter sculpture of a construction worker with a jackhammer, next to a large cow sculpture and blueprints on a black wall, with yellow caution tape in the background. — Artists build steel and wooden frames and layer and chisel butter by hand to create the sculptures.

Two life-size butter sculptures of a cow and calf wearing yellow construction hats in a dimly lit room with a sign saying "Pardon Our Dust" and small cones nearby. — No matter the theme, the cow and calf are a staple of the American Dairy Association Mideast's butter display.

Butter sculpture of a construction worker in a hard hat and vest holding a walkie-talkie, standing in front of architectural blueprints on a black wall with caution tape on the floor. — Wondering what happens to this butter once the fair ends? We tracked down the answer in 2022.

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Butter cow puts on a hard hat at 2025 State Fair

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