The animals have been preened, the boots polished and judging has begun as Australia's largest agricultural show prepares to open its gates to the public in Sydney on Friday.
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With the show falling before school holidays, this year organisers at the Sydney Royal Easter show are expecting smaller than usual crowd numbers.
But there's an increase in the number of exhibitors according to the general manager of agriculture at the show, Murray Wilton, who said goat and honey competitors alone have doubled since last year.
"If you look to the agricultural competitions, we have had increases in entries almost totally across the board," Mr Wilton told AAP.
"We've had an increase in sheep, dairy, cattle, the steers competition is incredibly strong, also arts and crafts we've seen a huge increase and the same with horses, pigs, poultry, honey and goats."
In a nod to tree-changers an Agri Leisure pavillion will feature at the show for the first time since the Royal opened in 1823, targeting small landholders.
"It's everything from machinery and quad bikes to ways in which you can manage a five acre block," Mr Wilton said.
"I think people are looking for an alternative to living in a big city."
In recognition of the growing popularity of oodles, there's a new pet dog class, which will see cross breeds judged for the first time in the domestic animal section.
While what's old is new again at this year's show with the pig auction returning after a 27-year hiatus, which will see the best of Australia's pig genetics up for sale.
"We've got more exhibitors than we've seen for years, so we've got people getting back into exhibiting pigs," WA pig breeder and exhibitor Linton Batt told AAP.
Mr Batt's nine hogs spent four days on the road from their farm at Beverley in Western Australia to compete at the show at Homebush in Sydney's inner west.
"The truck was built for moving pigs a long way, non slip flooring, comfortable bedding, a sprinkler system to keep them cool, they've got water access at all times and they're fed at least twice a day as much as they want," he said.
"Our pigs are fast growing, they're lean and they're bloody delicious," Mr Batt said.
The wool auction also returns this year for the first time in five years, with city slickers able to learn about the auction process as some of the exhibitors' best fleeces are sold.
When the auction was last held on site in 2019, it turned over in excess of $18 million in two days.
The show runs from March 22 to April 2.
Australian Associated Press
