See The Half-Ton Butter Sculpture At The PA Farm Show

January 6, 2023

The 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture on Thursday.
Credit: PA Internet News Service

Carved from 1,000 pounds of butter, the intricate 2023 Pennsylvania Farm Show butter sculpture was revealed Thursday.

The sculpture illustrates Pennsylvania agriculture’s impacts and honors the state’s 5,200 dairy producers. The Pennsylvania Farm Show has long included butter sculptures.

The latest sculpture was unveiled to the media by Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding.

The Pennsylvania Farm Show runs in Harrisburg from January 7 to 14. Admission is free, but parking will cost $15.

The sculpture, which was sponsored by the American Dairy Association North East (ADANE), shows several generations of a dairy farming family having fun together against the backdrop of their farm.

Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding joins Selina Horst, Natalie Grumbine, and Darcy Heltzel, PA dairy princesses, to view the butter sculpture.
Credit: PA Internet News Service

“The butter sculpture is a creative way to showcase the important role agriculture plays in our lives. Producing nutritious milk and dairy products, and feeding people, is what I love most about being a dairy farmer,” said dairy farmer Steve Harnish of Central Manor Dairy LLC in Washington Boro in Lancaster County. “This sculpture could be my own family. This is a meaningful way to show how dairy farmers work with their loved ones on land where they have deep roots, but always farming for the future.”

Jim Victor and Marie Pelton, the two sculptors, started working on the piece in the middle of December using butter provided by Land O’ Lakes in Carlisle, Cumberland County.

Once the show is over, the butter will be transported to the Reinford Farm in Juniata County after the performance so that it can be used in the farm’s methane digester to produce clean energy.