British prime minister Theresa May’s decision to trigger Brexit before next April has made it far more likely that Britain’s departure from the EU will take the form of a “hard” Brexit, with Britain leaving both the customs union and the EU’s single market.

SOARING global demand for food coupled with supply difficulties in southern hemisphere countries is boosting the outlook for most commodity prices, according to analysis delivered at the Teagasc Agricultural Economics Conference in Portlaoise.