Judges Donald Green, from Brookside, near Dunsandel, and Nick Gilbert, from Ashburton, had a busy two days last week, travelling as far south as Balclutha and as far north as Rotherham in North Canterbury.
Mr Green has been involved in the dairy industry for about 40 years and is heading to South Africa this month for a world Ayrshire cattle conference.
He and Mr Gilbert were awarding points for type, condition and consistency of the line.
Ikawai farmer Joy Burke, whose heifer calves made the final, said she entered because she believed A and P Associations needed encouragement to keep going and provide interest for urban dwellers.
She was pleased to see increasing numbers of entries in the competition. She attributed the quality of her calves to her sharemilkers, Trevor and Becks Lemmens, who raised them, and to grazier Richard Metcalfe.
RAS executive member Kelly Allison, from the Taieri, encouraged dairy farmers to enter the competition.
It was another avenue for farmers to show off their animals without going to A and P shows.
If they had never exhibited their cattle before, then it was often a "big step" to go to a show.
The competition could lead to people becoming interested and moving into the show ring eventually, Mr Allison said.