A line had already formed in the John Deere Agriculture Building an hour after the gates opened the first week of the Iowa State Fair.
Dozens of people waited patiently to see the butter cow, shuffling past the cordoned off displays of purple cabbages, peppers and ears of corn that were waiting to be judged. Sculpted with 600 pounds of butter on a wood and mesh frame, the bovine replica is the first stop for many fairgoers, like Amanda Hergert and Brad Blakeman from Omaha, Nebraska.
“It’s tough to describe the butter cow. It’s best to see in [person] far and away because when you tell people there’s a butter cow, they have no idea how large it is or why people want to see it, but it’s super iconic,” Blakeman said.
More than a million people visit the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines every August. It’s the single largest event in the state and one of the oldest agricultural expositions in the country. Along with the livestock shows, rides and countless foods on a stick, the fair is a showcase of creativity and novelty…