VIDEO: 800-pound butter sculpture to fuel renewable energy for local communities
Following the fair, the sculpture will be sent through Noblehurst Farms’ anaerobic digester to create renewable electricity and fertilizer
Once a year, the Dairy Products Building at The Great New York State Fair receives a shipment of 800 pounds of butter. Artists will transform the dairy product into a massive sculpture representing New York, agriculture, and how farms nearby are turning food waste into renewable energy.
Returning for their 24th consecutive butter sculpture, sculptors Jim Victor and Marie Pelton worked diligently in a refrigerated studio to create this year's design.
Titled "Milk. Memories. Tradition. Rooted in New York.", this year's sculpture transforms approximately 800 pounds of butter into a celebration of Americana through the lens of the Empire State — from baseball in Cooperstown and the legacy of America's first state fair to summertime ice cream, the New York City skyline, and fireworks illuminating the night.
For nearly six decades, the Butter Sculpture has been one of the most anticipated attractions at The Great New York State Fair, drawing fairgoers to the Dairy Products Building for a tradition that blends art, agriculture, and a uniquely New York sense of fun.
How a butter sculpture highlights the power of a circular economy
After delighting fairgoers for 13 days, the butter's story doesn't end.
Once the Fair concludes, the butter returns to Western New York, where Noblehurst Farms in Pavilion recycles it through an anaerobic digester that converts waste into renewable energy. This marks the 11th consecutive year the farm has given the butter a sustainable second life, preventing it from ending up in a landfill. Noblehurst Farm's vast recycling program turns over 500 tons of food waste from supermarkets, universities, and schools each month into enough energy to power the farm and over 300 local homes. Specifically, the butter from the Butter Sculpture alone can power one house for three days.
Over the past decade, Noblehurst Farms has recycled approximately 8,000 pounds — four tons — of butter from the sculpture, keeping it out of landfills while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating renewable energy.
"The butter sculpture has become one of The New York State Fair's most cherished traditions because it tells the story of our state's dairy farm families in a way that's both creative and memorable," said John Chrisman, CEO of American Dairy Association North East. "While fairgoers come to see an incredible work of art, the butter sculpture is really about the people behind it — our dairy farmers, whose hard work brings wholesome, nutritious dairy foods from their farms to families across New York."
The butter used for the sculpture comes from O-AT-KA Milk Products in Batavia, N.Y., and is out of specification for retail sale for a variety of reasons, so American Dairy Association North East works with the sculptors to put it to good use by creating a beautiful piece of art.
