HEAVY lamb skins are earning up to $25 as processors pay top dollar for the best pelts.

A shortage of clean, good quality skins is driving prices to highs not seen for years.

The latest prices represent a $4-$5 premium over last year's rates at the top end for skins from lambs weighing 24kg plus.

During the past month, heavy lamb skins have been making $24 and peaked at $25.

To get those kind of prices, skins need to be clean with virtually no grass seed or burr in them.

Meat and Livestock Australia's sheepmeat analyst Robert Barker said tight supplies were the major factor in high skin prices.

"There has been good demand in recent weeks and months from China, but overall international demand has been steady," Mr Barker said.

"There may have been some expectation of help from a lower dollar in the past few weeks, but the recent appreciation will not have helped potential skin prices."

Mr Barker said good quality skins with little or no burr and vegetable matter were helping lamb prices lift.

"At the top end of the skin market, skins are capping good prices being received in carcass-weight terms, which themselves remain very strong," he said.

"There is still high variability in quality, with a large proportion of skins quite affected by burrs and vegetable matter."

Mr Barker said producers maximising skin values kept them as clean as possible.

"For lamb skins, the best prices at the moment are for heavy new season lambs with low contamination, while for sheep, larger Merino skins with good wool cover remain the highest returning skins," he said.

"The high contamination of skins with burrs and other vegetable matter is still the major reason for discounting and downgrading, and unfortunately is still widespread."

Mr Barker said it was hard to predict how long the run of better skin prices would last.

The National Livestock Reporting Service quoted young lamb skins as making up to $25 at the end of last week.

The best skin prices were paid for pelts from bigger Merino sheep, which made up to $30 for wool lengths 7.5cm and more.