New season lamb numbers are down and getting them onto the dinner table is not going to be cheap.

Beef and Lamb is forecasting an almost two percent drop in numbers.

ABS senior rural economist Nathan Penny is expecting lamb prices to remain high.

He said at the moment prices are higher than last year and near the highest they have been on record.

"Prices normally peak in spring and we're not far off that peak. It's probably a couple of weeks away and they'll be peaking at a very high level, probably the second highest on record. From there we expect prices to remain quite healthy."

Penny said that's likely to keep lamb prices elevated for the new season.

"Overall farmers are happy because the prices where they're standing at now are higher than last year, near the highest they've been on record at this juncture."