71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way crowned on eve of Minnesota State Fair

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. — The 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way was crowned Wednesday evening ahead of the start of the Minnesota State Fair.

Nineteen-year-old Rachel Visser from Hutchinson will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for Minnesota dairy farm families over the next year.

During her reign, Visser will have conversations, classroom visits and speaking engagements about the "nutritional benefits of dairy and dairy farmers' continual commitment to environmental sustainability," according to Midwest Dairy, the program's sponsor.

For her first official act of business, Visser will sit in a rotating cooler in the Dairy Building to have her likeness sculpted in a block of butter. Gerry Kulzer will be the butter sculptor for her and other Princess Kay finalists.

Visser currently attends the University of Minnesota and is double majoring in agricultural food and business management and agricultural communications and marketing. She hopes to work in dairy statistical analysis.

Nine princesses competed for the title of Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Katie Ketchum and Grace Woitalla were selected as runners-up. Mackenzie Moline was given the title of Miss Congeniality.

The Minnesota State Fair is open from 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. starting Thursday. On the last day of the fair, Labor Day, it is open from 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. For more information on the fair, click here .