New ‘Animated’ Butter Cow To Debut At Iowa State Fair

Signs of summer in Iowa for sure.

Ah the butter cow, iconic in it's own way and a staple at the Iowa State Fair since 1911.

Every year, the Iowa State Fair adds a "companion" butter sculpture to the cow, like the year it was Caitlin Clark.

Now for 2025, the fair has announced the companion sculpture(s) that will share a cooler with the cow.

Long-time Iowa State Fair butter sculptor Sarah Pratt and her apprentices Grace and Hannah will sculpt a likeness of Andy's room from your favorite classic Disney movie featuring toy characters we know and love because it's been 30 years of Toy Story™.

If you look closely at Andy's room, you might find some fair staples.

And as for the argument of Iowa not having any culture or class? Wrong. After the fair, the butter cow (or a replica of it) is going into the Smithsonian as part of a year-long exhibit "State Fairs: Growing American Craft".

There's no word yet on how much butter is going into this companion piece, but the butter cow holds 600 pounds of low-moisture, pure cream Iowa butter.

Toy Story™ came out in November 1995, so excuse me while I turn into a fossil.

And ahead of the state fair, let's not forget buttergate, when it came out that the butter is mounted on a frame of chicken wire, wood, etc. and is not, in fact, a giant cow made solely of a butter brick.

Buttergate: Inside The Viral 'Buttergate' That Rocked The Illinois State Fair

Meanwhile, the butter cow and Andy's room companion sculpture will be on display at the Iowa State Fair on August 7th-August 17th.