Page 12 Stories of the Heartland • Sunday, September 21, 2025 hometownsource. com / heartland /
said each head is carved in 90-pound blocks of butter in a 40 ° F rotating, glass-enclosed cooler. Those who are attending the fair also have the opportunity to watch the process. Each head takes about six to eight hours to make.
Montag has been a dairy princess in the making for a long time. Now age 20, she was 14 years old when one of the former board members of the Benton County American Dairy Association asked her if she wanted to be a dairy princess.
“ I was like,‘ Of course. Where do I sign up?’” she said.
To be an ambassador or a dairy princess at the Benton County level, all contestants are required to meet a set of requirements, including age. To be an ambassador, the contestants have to be either 15 or 16 years old. Those seeking to be a dairy princess have to be between 17-23 years old, Montag said.
Although Montag had seen butterheads of the finalists and the Princess Kay of the Milky Way winner being carved at the Minnesota State Fair on television, the county dairy princess program was unknown to her.
“ I saw the butterheads getting carved on TV and I was like,‘ I want that. I need that. My parents are dairy farmers. I want to be a dairy princess one day,’ so when someone from the county came to me and asked me, I was just over the moon. I was like,‘ Wait, that’ s what the princess program is with the butterheads, it starts at the county.’ But I still didn’ t know where to go, so I was very happy that they came to me,” she said. The Montags live at Montag Dairy in Sauk Rapids The property is generational in the sense that her
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Photo: Midwest Dairy Association
Heidi Montag is pictured in August 2025 with the likeness of herself that was carved in butter at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair.
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