Stearns County Princess Kay finalists pose with their butter sculptures

This year, two of the nine women from across Minnesota who competed to be Princess Kay of the Milky Way at the State Fair were from Stearns County.

Grace Woitalla, of Avon, became one of the two runners-up for the Princess Kay title. Selena Corona, of Saint Joseph, was one of the six finalists.

Throughout the fair, Princess Kay and the other finalists posed for butter sculptures in the Dairy Building, and their likeness was carved out of a 90-pound block of food-quality butter. Princess Kay candidates are judged on their knowledge of the dairy industry, communication skills and enthusiasm for dairy.

Woitalla, who grew up in Stearns County, is a sophomore at Ridgewater College in Willmar, where she is studying both agribusiness and precision agriculture. Woitalla represents the third generation on her family’s farm, and she hopes to return to the farm and work in agronomy sales and service as her future career.

Her favorite dairy memory is when her grandfather taught her to milk a cow. One of her hobbies outside of dairy is collecting houseplants; she has more than 70 plants.

Corona says making people feel welcome is a passion of hers. Corona is a first-generation college student. She is studying animal science and agricultural communications and marketing with a minor in agricultural business management at the University of Minnesota.

Churning out a masterpiece: How butter is made into art at the Minnesota State Fair

Midwest Dairy represents 4,000 dairy farm families and works on their behalf to build dairy demand by inspiring consumer confidence in our products and production practices. The organization is funded by farmers across a 10-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.

Gerry Kulzer carved the butter sculpture of each student.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Stearns County Princess Kay finalists pose with their butter sculptures