THE heady prices of winter may have gone, but lamb producers are still earning good returns for their suckers.

While there had been reports of some producers holding back their turnoff in the hope of better rates, recent sales have shown a swell of new-season lambs.

September figures produced by the National Livestock Reporting Service confirm that producers have been happy to sell their lambs when they are ready.

Heavy lamb supplies during September jumped 69 per cent on last year, with the NLRS putting it down to "firm saleyard prices".

Victoria's yardings of heavy lambs were 21 per cent higher this September than last, while NSW yardings jumped 55 per cent.

The trend comes as no surprise to agents, who have been watching a steady flow of suckers come into the yards.

Spencer and Bennett principal Ron Spencer, from Griffith, said lamb prices were "very good" - so good that the Riverina centre had been flush with stock for many weeks.

"It's now October and you would expect prices to be tailing off a bit, but the good lambs are still making $110-$115," he said. "Our clients are not holding back their turnoff.

Mr Spencer said he still believed the market would be good next year, but it was hard for producers to knock back the prices paid now. "When you are getting $100 for little sucker lambs, there's nothing wrong with that and why would you hang on?" he said.

Mr Spencer said a dip in the market a couple of weeks ago - prices at Wagga Wagga fell by as much as $18 and at Griffith rates were down $10 - might have given some producers a scare.

"But the market bounced right back and it seemed to be just a minor aberration," he said.

Fellow agent Mark Flagg, from Mark Flagg Livestock and Property at Barellan, said $90-$100 for Merino-cross lambs was "probably fair money".

"If there was a big fall in prices, producers would probably pull up sending them and vendors might be a bit more selective in what they sell," he said.

Don Low from Hay has been happy to accept the prices he has received recently for his Dorper-cross lambs sold at Griffith.

Two weeks ago, his lambs made $85-$96 and late last week, another draft of his lambs, which had an estimated carcass weight of 19kg, made $90.

Mr Low, who operates his own lamb feedlot, could have held the stock on but felt the prices were "pretty good" for lambs less than four months old. "Why take the risk if you can get the money now?"