The sheep sector is the only one that will be largely unscathed by a no-deal Brexit, according to Teagasc.

In a no-deal scenario, tariffs would make the price of UK lamb exorbitant to their usual continental market consumers and it could give Irish lamb an extra foothold on the continent. This point was outlined by Anne Kinsella of Teagasc, who went on to explain the gross margin for mid-season lamb went up 43% to €898/ha in 2020. The good news in terms of Brexit was tempered by the fact that overall margins in the sheep sector were expected to still drop by 4%.

Trevor Donnellan explained that this was due to the calculation that many sheep enterprises also run a concurrent beef enterprise, and the beef enterprise was expected to be hit but by a no-deal Brexit and therefore drag sheep sector margins down.