In 2019, Steve and I attended the 100th Annual Reno Rodeo. We vowed to return the following year but stuff got in the way. We were not about to miss participating in at least one night of  this 10-day event.

My request was for Steve to see, and photograph, the butter cow. The history of butter cows traces back over a century — the first buttery bovine made an appearance in 1903 at the Ohio State Fair. Butter artisan, Sarah Pratt, a Des Moines native, deftly chisels pure-cream Iowa butter into uncanny sculptures, including replicas of Superman, wild bison, the Apollo 11 mission, and of course, the beloved butter cow. She brought her moo-ving artistry to the Silver State for the 2023 Reno Rodeo where she sculpted a butter cow admired by thousands of visitors. Her creamy creation pays homage to farmers and producers across the nation, including Nevada’s 20+ dairy farms.

The unorthodox medium calls for special considerations — Pratt applied over 600 pounds of low-moisture butter to a wood, metal, wire and steel mesh frame. Butter’s propensity to melt makes it ideal for drizzling over popcorn at the fairgrounds — but not so ideal for sculpting. To keep the butter cow from withering under the Nevada sun, Pratt carved the sculpture in a 40-degree refrigerated room over the course of several days to transform the salty, creamy goodness into a bonafide bovine. Makes one appreciate it that much more!