Teagasc expects the average sheep farmer income to fall by 10% to €26,500 this year, but this reduction was put down to the complementary cattle enterprise on the typical sheep farm rather than lamb price pressure or major cost swings.
One-quarter of the average sheep farm’s output is cattle and the declining beef outlook is anticipated to “more than offset our forecast modest gains in sheep margin,” Teagasc reported this week.
The outlook for 2026 as a whole is for lamb prices to steady at 3% more than they did last year, despite 2025’s average lamb price having only been 2% higher than this year’s prices to-date.
Tight supplies in the Irish, EU and UK markets are to support sheep prices throughout the remainder of this year with domestic sheep output to fall 3%, tracking lower factory throughput amid stable carcase weights.
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