Local identity and fifth-generation butcher Peter Lindbeck of Lindbeck’s Butchery was experiencing one of his busiest trading days of the year on Wednesday as people stocked up for the national holiday.

“Every year for the last four or five years Australia Day has just got bigger and bigger," Mr Lindbeck said.

"It’s now on par with Easter Thursday. Everybody has really got into the idea of having a celebration on Australia Day."

It’s the traditional lamb roast that was most sought-after this year, fuelled by several years of advertising campaigns from national ‘‘Lambassador’’ Sam Kekovich. Mr Lindbeck said he had definitely noticed the difference in lamb sales.

“The advertising campaign they’ve been doing over the last few years has been working, and it’s certainly worked this year,’’ he said.

“Customers are into lamb racks and all sorts of lamb roasts at the moment, whether they be lamb legs that have been trimmed and butterflied, or lamb rumps.’’

But the traditional, bulky leg roast is on the way out these days, surpassed by newer, trendier cuts like the butterflied leg.

“Probably about 20 years ago they brought in new fashioned lamb cuts, and it really took off,’’ Butcher Lindbeck said.

‘‘Lamb generally is a little bit fatty, so it’s a little bit more trimmed up now and you can have a neater serving than just getting a chop with a hunk of bone hanging off it.

“If we roll it or butterfly the leg, you can have a lamb leg roast in an hour now whereas it always used to be three hours later that you’d get to eat.”

As for his own Australia Day plans, this dyed in the wool Queanbeyanite spent the day enjoying a barbecue lunch with family and friends in Michelago.

Surely lamb was on the menu, we asked.

“No, I’ll be cooking steak,” he laughed. “I get sick and tired of looking at lamb all day, because that’s what everybody wants here.”

Not eating lamb on Australia Day? That’s not much chop, butcher.