WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Rural Wisconsin has returned to the state's most urban area for the 156th Wisconsin State Fair, which features cows, goats, sheep, swine and other animals.

"We try to bridge the gap between the two," said the fair's agriculture director, Brian Bolan.

The fair is along a busy stretch of Interstate 94 just west of Milwaukee, and the housing of the animals is only temporary, during the 11-day run of the fair. The event, which has been held at the site since 1892, began Thursday.

Half of the more than 860,000 fairgoers during last year's event came from the metropolitan Milwaukee area, and nearly a quarter came from elsewhere in the heavily populated southeastern portion of the state, said fair spokeswoman Patrice Harris.

The emphasis, as always, is on agriculture. After all, this is the state fair of Wisconsin, which bills itself as "America's Dairyland."

"I think the cows are kind of cool," said Alex Kujawa of Wind Lake in Racine County on Friday. He toured the dairy barn with his parents and twin sister, Casie, on their pair's 12th birthday.

Jennifer Wehr of Hartford said the fair gave her 3-year-old daughter, Delaney, her first opportunity to see more types of animals. The girl has only been on a few field trips to farms.

"I like the sheep and goats," the youngster said in a barely audible voice. She quickly added: "And the horses, and the chickens and the bunnies!"

Cia Jones, a teacher at the Follow Your Dreams day care center in Milwaukee, brought a group of about 20 children to the fair.

"You can see where you get food from, and get to ask questions," she said of the fair's educational opportunities.

The area in the Ag Village where the Birthing Barn has previously been located at the fair has been turned into the Discovery Barnyard. This year the area has high school and college students with agricultural backgrounds passing along their knowledge to visitors.

"Instead of just concentrating on the birth of animals, the emphasis this year is on how they grow and mature and how people take care of animals," said Bolan, the fair director.

At an interactive event on Tuesday, visitors will be able to explore agricultural biotechnology and learn about nutrition facts used every day. At the interactive Ag-Venture event, they'll even be able to milk a dairy goat.

Katherine Gee recently moved from suburban Wauwatosa to Berkeley, Calif., but timed a family visit back this year to coincide with the fair.

"You can get answers to questions such as where does milk come from, and where does meat come from," she said as she toured the a barnyard with her two daughters.

This year marks the second for the Wisconsin State Fair Day Camp. About 35 fourth and fifth graders from urban areas will be can explore the fair's agriculture.

The fair also provides animals with some fun, or their owners at least. Everything from rabbits to alpacas will be judged. The Governor's Blue Ribbon Livestock Auction will be held Wednesday night in the Coliseum.

And then there are the rides. Dozens of amusement rides provide a counterpoint to all the agriculture.

For others, the visit was all out consuming food, rather than learning about it.

The fair is known for its traditional cream puffs. Nearly 385,000 were sold last year. But there are hundreds of other items including 40 different kinds of food on sticks.

New this year is the Real Wisconsin Cheese Grill, which is in the Wisconsin Products Pavilion. The grill will be run by the Wisconsin State Fair Dairy Promotion Board. Proceeds from the sale of all things cheese — sticks to curds to sandwiches — will go toward scholarships for students studying agriculture.

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On the Net:

Wisconsin State Fair: http://wistatefair.com