You...Only Butter! Midwest Dairy Association Brings a Popular State Fair Tradition to You Online

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Jul 21, 2010, 10:58 ET

ST. PAUL, Minn., July 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Everyone looks better in butter, and thanks to Midwest Dairy Association a fun new Facebook application brings a popular state fair tradition – butter sculpting -- to life. Across the Midwest, state fairs are a time-honored event combining competition, great food, live music and an overall good time. Even if you can't attend this ceremonious closure to summer fun, create your own virtual experience through the Butter-Fy Yourself application.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100721/DC38146)

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100721/DC38146)

Let the Butter-fication Begin

Butter-fy Yourself allows you to turn your profile picture into a butter personality and even add your buttery self to a virtual sharable postcard at http://apps.facebook.com/butterfy.

Upload your favorite photo.
Select from one of six butter personalities, including Dairy Princess, Butter Hippie, Butter Cow, Butter Liberty, Butter Bouffant and Butter Up and begin to sculpt yourself.
Customize your sculpture on a postcard from one of nine Midwest states, including Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.
Share your beautiful, buttery self with the world by posting your butter personality to your wall, saving to your album and inviting your friends to do the same.

Carving Out a Few Butter Facts

One of the most popular attractions at many state fairs are the famous butter sculptures. From Minnesota to Missouri, fair-goers line up to see the unique sculptures. Some fairs stick with a traditional dairy cow, while others introduce a new sculpture every year. In fact, even Elvis has made an appearance in butter.

Dairy art enthusiasts can thank ancient Tibetan monks for first carving animals and deities of worship out of yak butter with colorful dyes. The tradition spread to North America in the early 1800s, where blocks of butter were formed into decorative patterns and displayed at state fairs.
In 1910, the first butter cow was created by a sculptor only recorded as Mr. Daniels at the Iowa State Fair.
The butter cows start with a wood, metal, wire or steel mesh frame and about 600 pounds of pure cream butter. That's enough butter to sweeten 19,200 ears of sweet corn.
Over the years, artists have braved 40-degree walk-in glass refrigerators to immortalize such elaborate butter creations as city skylines, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and The Last Supper.

Butter Is Even Better at the Fair

Midwest Dairy Association, who works on behalf of 11,000 dairy farmers in nine Midwest states, has a long tradition of participation in Midwest state fairs. Midwest Dairy operates concessions featuring dairy products at Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota, North Dakota and Ozark Empire Fairs; sponsors or promotes butter sculptures at the Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri State Fairs; and exhibits or sponsors dairy activities at all nine fairs in our region.

For more information about dairy activities at your state fair, visit www.midwestdairy.com or www.dairymakessense.com.

Midwest Dairy Association is a non-profit organization funded by dairy farmers to build demand for dairy products through integrated marketing, nutrition education and research. Midwest Dairy is funded by check-off dollars from dairy farmers in a nine-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. For more information, visit www.midwestdairy.com. Follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook at Midwest Dairy.