 really know, but since it's called a butter cow, it's probably going to be a cow made out of butter. That is exactly right. It's a life-size cow sculpted out of butter. It's been a tradition at the fair since 1911 and started as a promotion for the dairy industry, but the butter cow became an icon unto itself, and the cow isn't the fair's only butter sculpture. Ask lifelong fairgoers like Don Gaffney, and they'll recall sculptures from years past.