It is the end of an era at the Ekka in Brisbane, with the dairy sheds set to be demolished to make way for redevelopment at the RNA showground.

Yes, the sheds are old and the accommodation for handlers is cramped and uncomfortable, but that is all part of showing your best cows at the Ekka.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 11 minutes 56 seconds 11 m The end of an era with Ekka dairy shed demolition ( Robin McConchie ) Download 5.5 MB

This is the last year families will live cheek by jowl with their animals in the old sheds over the week or so they are at the Ekka.

This year 200 animals representing six main dairy breeds are on show, and that takes work, feeding, preening, replenishing hay, milking cows and mucking out tonnes of cow dung.

Most would not have it any other way.

Greg English brought his prize Illawarra heifer from Malanda, a journey of 2,000km, to showcase her talents and benchmark her against best in breed.

Mr English said shows were important so the country could connect with the city.

He loves the cramped little lockers and said it was better than camping, and the company was great.

Greg and Rachel English reckon the accommodation in the dairy sheds is better than camping. ( ABC Rural: Robin McConchie )

"You have got everything. This is where we sleep, but next door is our kitchen. This is better than camping, you have electricity, hot showers," he said.

"It just looks like chaos, but it is really, really good. But if they do demolish these in September I think it will be a crying shame because they are just iconic Ekka."

Wade Johnstone represents the new generation of farmers, and said if his wife Courtney was not able to share his digs and cook him bacon and eggs for breakfast in the tiny but functional kitchen cubicle, he would be on a diet of cornflakes and coke.

He said he loved the Ekka, and his family had been showing for 40 years.

This Illawarra cow can produce 30 to 40 litres of milk a day. ( ABC Rural: Robin McConchie )

And while the competition was tough, he was proud to win the prestigious milking competition.

Mr Johnstone's Illawarra cow produced 38 litres of milk in 24 hours, and its protein and fat content saw it come out in first place.

While much of the press is about dairy farmers as victims of bad decisions by processors, he said he could not think of anything better than being a dairy farmer.

"Working your cattle, working your land, it is very mixed, you do everything," he said

Courtney Johnstone, with husband Wade, cooks a mean breakfast in the Ekka kitchen. ( ABC Rural: Robin McConchie )

Pat McDonald, 83, first came to the Ekka in 1951.

He is still showing his prized jersey cows, and said the Ekka was an opportunity to showcase his cow's genetics and benchmark his animals.

But unlike Mr English and Mr Johnstone, he said the old dairy sheds were good for the cows, but he was looking forward to decent accommodation in the new pavilion.

"The accommodation for the cattle here is really good, but in this day and age we go to a lot of expense and a lot of work to bring our cattle here," he said.

"I think we deserve better than what we have been given for the last 15 years or so."