Poll Dorset sired new season lambs have sold for a new national saleyard record price of $331.20.

Sold through Wagga Wagga, the lambs were bred by Gordon and Wayne Rodham, Uranquinty, NSW and purchased by Geelong, Victoria, processors M.C. Herd.

The Rodham's broke their own previously held record of $320 they set in 2018.

The lambs were sold by Mark Logan from RH Blake & Co, and Meat and Livestock Australia estimate they were 31kg carcase weight.

New season lambs are already dominating yardings in NSW, and average price for suckers has reached a state record, according to Meat and Livestock Australia.

“NSW has been doing the heavy lifting in terms of supply volumes since June, accounting for 80 per cent of the 109,000 new season lambs yarded in the eastern states.

“The price of NSW’s young lambs has not been affected by supply upticks, showing the resilience and strength of the current market to cope with larger offerings across the saleyards.

“For the week ending Friday 15 August, young lambs in NSW averaged $230/head, the highest weekly average price ever recorded in current monetary terms for the state.

“The price has appreciated 41 per cent, or $95a head, since the first week of June.”

The national trade lamb indicator jumped considerably in late August, reaching 938c/kg in the third week - 291c/kg higher than the same time the previous year.

It was within 1 per cent of the record of 949c/kg set in 2019, and comes as a major NSW processors has had to close due to Covid-19 restrictions.

All national lamb indicators were sitting significantly higher year-on-year, with heavy lamb up a whopping 367c/kg to 974c/kg, and restockers just shy of $10 at 999c/kg, 338c/kg up on the 2020 price.

Victoria’s sucker season has yet to kick off, with many areas waiting to dry out after a wet winter.

TB White & Sons Ballarat agent Matt White said the lamb drop continued to command strong prices.

“The trade lambs are making anywhere from $8 to $10 a kilogram depending on quality and finish, while the extra heavy lambs are at $8.50 to $9.50,” he said.

“We have seen a couple of pens of new season lambs but not enough to quote yet - the area has been so wet, they are about four to five weeks off of starting to come through.

“There is a lot of lambs around through, and given a month or two to dry out and get the feed going and we will see a lot of good lambs coming out.”