Farmers to be compensated for price drops in no-deal Brexit

Farmers will get compensation to help them adjust to price shocks if there is a no-deal Brexit.

That is according to the Agriculture Minister who says agri-food and fisheries are the two most exposed sectors.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said there could well be job losses in those sectors.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed says they will try to lift the burden for farmers if the UK goes off the cliff edge.

"What our ambition would be is to compensate farmers for whatever price drop happens so that the industry can continue to supply that product into the market and that obviously will depend on the market reality in the UK," said Minister Creed.

The UK could apply tariffs. It could apply tariffs across the board. It could apply them on specific products, it could decide to apply no tariffs.

The Minister said that the beef sector, in particular, was very open to shocks.

"In this department, I'm worried about the entire range of products from the agri-food sector whether it's beef, pork, dairy, sheep meat, the drinks industry, the tillage sector.

"They all have a degree of exposure. The unfortunate reality is that there is no upside, it's all downside in agri-food."