Amy Kyllo, a 19-year-old college student from Byron, Minn., representing Olmsted County, was crowned the 66th Princess Kay of the Milky Way in an evening ceremony Aug. 21 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Kyllo will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for nearly 3,000 Minnesota dairy farm families. She is the daughter of Paul and Susan Kyllo, and she attends the Association Free Lutheran Bible School.

FULL YEAR AHEAD: Amy Kyllo, the new Princess Kay of the Milky Way, will be busy promoting Minnesota’s dairy industry over the next year.

Ten county dairy princesses from throughout Minnesota competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title. Elizabeth Krienke of Lester Prairie, representing McLeod County, and Brittney Tiede of Le Center, representing Le Sueur County, were selected as runners-up.

Rachel Paskewitz of Browerville representing Todd County, Grace Jeurissen and Krienke, both of Lester Prairie and representing McLeod County, were named scholarship winners. Kyllo was also named Miss Congeniality.

Throughout her yearlong reign as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Kyllo will make public appearances to help connect consumers to Minnesota’s dairy farm families. She will work to bring dairy to life through conversations, classroom visits and various speaking engagements.

Kyllo’s first official duty as Princess Kay was sitting in a rotating cooler in the Dairy Building for nearly eight hours to have her likeness sculpted in a 90-pound block of butter Aug. 22-23 at the Minnesota State Fair.

This year marks butter sculptor Linda Christensen’s 48th year carving the Princess Kay of the Milky Way winner and finalists at the Minnesota State Fair. Other finalists are scheduled to have their likenesses sculpted as follows:

Jeurissen, Tiede and Kayla Biel, Harmony, representing Fillmore County, had their sculptures done over the past few days.

Throughout the fair, Princess Kay and the other finalists will make appearances near the Butter Sculpture Booth in the Dairy Building, at the Moo Booth in the Dairy Barn and onstage at the CHS Miracle of Birth Center.

Princess Kay’s Facebook page will provide daily updates and photos of each completed butter sculpture.

Princess Kay candidates are judged on their general knowledge of the dairy industry, communication skills and enthusiasm for dairy. Midwest Dairy sponsors the Princess Kay program, which is funded by dairy farmers through their promotion checkoff.

Source: Midwest Dairy, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.