Tony Symes can't remember exactly how long he has been organising lamb judging at the Waverley A&P Show - but he thinks it's about 40 years.
"The entries are still strong. They're about the same as last year, which is good because this is a big dairy area," he said.
The show has an ongoing arrangement with Silver Fern Farms, the owner of the Waitotara meatworks. It makes for two-tiered judging.
The 130 export lambs penned in their threes for judging on Tuesday get judged once "on the hoof".
Then they are taken to the meatworks, killed and their carcasses are judged "on the hook".