The iconic butter cow and calf sport hard hats in this year’s butter display at the Ohio State Fair. They stand alongside three construction workers, scaffolding, sawhorses and safety cones – all sculpted in butter.

COLUMBUS — On behalf of Ohio’s dairy farmers, the 2025 butter cow display at the Ohio State Fair has a cheerful message to fairgoers: “Pardon Our Dust!”

Major renovations are underway across the fairgrounds, including in the historic Dairy Products Building, the home of the butter cow and calf.

Presented by the American Dairy Association Mideast, this year’s butter display features the iconic butter cow and calf wearing butter hard hats. They are joined by three life-size butter construction workers: one operating a jackhammer, another studying blueprints, and a third talking into a two-way radio.

The construction scene also includes scaffolding, sawhorses, safety cones and a “Pardon Our Dust” sign — all sculpted in butter!

“We’re so excited the Dairy Products Building is part of the master plan to revitalize and enhance the fairgrounds,” said Jenny Crabtree, senior vice president of communications for the American Dairy Association Mideast. “The butter cow’s home is getting a well-deserved facelift, and we can’t wait for fairgoers to experience the improvements in 2026.”

When renovations are complete next year, the century-old Dairy Products Building will offer a more comfortable experience for fairgoers, with long-awaited upgrades including air conditioning, new amenities and a larger kitchen.

Similarly, Ohio’s dairy farmers are also always making improvements — for their cows, their land and their communities. From climate-controlled barns and robotic milking systems to recycling water and generating renewable energy from manure, dairy farmers are continually adopting new practices to farm smarter and more sustainably. It’s all part of their commitment to producing high-quality milk while protecting natural resources.

This year’s display was crafted from 2,000 pounds of butter by a group of Ohio-based sculptors. The team is led by Paul Brooke of Cincinnati and includes Tammy Buerk of Oregonia, Erin Birum of Columbus, dairy farmer Matt Davidson of Sidney, Joe Metzler of Hamilton and Gabriela Schmidt of Akron. Together, they spent approximately 400 hours creating the display, including about 335 hours working inside the 46-degree cooler.

“With all the real construction at the fairgrounds this year, it only felt right to put the butter cow and calf to work,” said lead sculptor Paul Brooke. “They’ve got their hard hats on and are ready to join the crew.”

To bring the sculptures to life, the artists build steel and wooden frames, layer butter by hand and gradually refine the forms before chiseling and smoothing the final details.

The butter cow display attracts more than 500,000 visitors at the Ohio State Fair, gaining nationwide recognition and media attention. A long-standing tradition for Ohio’s more than 1,350 dairy farm families, the American Dairy Association Mideast chooses an icon or theme to feature in butter that is non-political, non-controversial and reflects optimism and broad audience appeal. Each year, the theme of the butter cow display is one of the best-kept secrets leading up to the fair.

The Ohio State Fair runs today through Aug. 3 at the Ohio Expo Center. While renovations are in progress, fair visitors can still enjoy the same delicious ice cream they love in prepackaged cups, Swiss cheese sandwiches and milk.

The butter cow display and the Dairy Products Building are sponsored by the American Dairy Association Mideast, a marketing and promotion program funded by the Ohio dairy farmers. The butter was donated in part by Dairy Farmers of America and will be recycled.