The Iowa State Fair is known for the butter cow, food-on-a-stick and for the hot, humid weather. Snowfall has never been in the fair’s picture, until this year.

Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey is inviting fair goers to see the flakes fall at the ag building. Northey says, "We’re going to promote some of the specialty crops that we have growing in the state, including Christmas trees, and we’re going to be able to have some snow there, a few minutes of snow every hour."

He encourages folks to have their pictures taken with the cascading snowflakes and the evergreens. Trees are just one of the many crops being promoted at the fair, and Northey says farmers markets bring a significant business boost for Iowa growers.

"We’re a very strong farmers market state. We have about 170 farmers markets in Iowa," Northey says. "Over 30-million dollars worth of produce go through farmers markets every year." He says an ever-widening array of goods can be found at those markets, well beyond the basics.

Northey says, "Per person, we have more farmers markets per capita than other states." He says this is prime time for the markets, as late summer is bringing out a host of fruits, vegetables — and corn.

Northey says another highlight that’ll focus on Iowa during the fair will be Chef Joe Godfroy preparing dishes on the Agriculture Building Stage this Saturday and next and Wednesday using fresh Iowa produce.