Mike clocks up 65 shows

Mr Traynor has always had a love for livestock and as a kid growing up in 1950s Balmain he said going to the Sydney Royal Show was a real treat.

Last week was the 65th time he had been to the show and he's proud to say that even while serving in the military he never missed the event.

Mr Traynor has not just watched the action from the sidelines.

In his younger years he was a strapper for the trotters during the show, while later he took like a duck to water judging a range of competitions such as prime lambs, cattle and even young auctioneers.

In the 1970s Mr Traynor judged prime lambs both on the hoof and the hook, while in the late 1970s he assessed the cattle carcase competitions.

"Back then much more of the carcase judging was via visual assessment," he said.

"It wasn't like today were it's done using a range of objective measurements."

Through the years he has also judged stud cattle and the open steer competition.

He continues to work as a ring steward.

In the Murray Grey ring each year the grand champion bull is awarded the MS Traynor Perpetual Trophy.

"We had a Murray Grey and Poll Hereford stud in the past, so donating the trophy for the grand champion is a nice link I still have to the breed," he said.

Having worked in many facets of the livestock industry including livestock buying, processing, wholesale and retail, export, administration and lotfeeding, Mr Traynor now describes himself as semi-retired, dividing his time between Cowra and Palm Beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Even so, he said being part of the Sydney Royal Show each year was just as special as it was when he was a kid in the 1950s.

n More Sydney Royal coverage in our liftout report.