NYS Butter Sculpture to Power Homes with Renewable Energy

GEDDES, NEW YORK — Although the fun of the Great New York State Fair has come to an end, volunteers returned to the Dairy Building on Tuesday to dismantle the 800-pound butter sculpture.

Volunteers spent the morning scraping the butter and putting it into bags, then sending it to Noblehurst Farms where it will be recycled and turned into energy.

This is the ninth year the Livingston County farm has been collecting remnants of the famous butter sculpture from the fair, co-owner Jack Klapper said.

“We’ll mix it with food waste from upstate New York, as well as manure from our cows. And once the food waste, butter and manure are mixed together, they’ll go into a big tank, like a tank, and they’ll sit there for about 28 days. After 28 days, they’ll turn into renewable energy, which will power our farm and some homes in the community.”

800 pounds of recycled butter will power a home for three to five days.

Butter isn’t the only food waste Noblehurst Farms collects. The farms have been collecting food waste from grocery stores, restaurants, and universities to turn into energy.

“We divert about 60 to 70 tons of food waste per day when we deliver it to our dairy in Western New York. That keeps food waste out of landfills and we’re able to generate renewable energy and electricity from that food waste.”

Klepper said he was honored to be a part of the process of recycling the butter sculpture, but added that dairy farmers across the state should also be recognized for their sustainability efforts.

I think it’s important for everyone to know that as dairy farmers, we pride ourselves on being stewards of the environment. But everything we do, we do with love. We love our people. We love our land and our natural resources. And most importantly, we love our cows.