A Sinn Féin Assembly member has endorsed plans for a farmers' protest at Stormont this week.
Mid Ulster MLA Mr Francie Molloy backed plans for the rally this Friday on the Stormont estate by Farmers For Action as part of a campaign calling for a fair return for produce.
Mr Molloy also renewed calls for a proper investigation of allegations of price fixing and cartels operating in the industry.
Welcoming the rally, he said it was being staged at a time when many farmers believed they were witnessing "restructuring of the industry via the back door".
"People outside farming have been gaining most," Mr Molloy said. "The problem of low income and a decimated industry lies outside the farm gate. We have to try to get to a point where everybody in the industry makes a fair return and a future".
A simultaneous protest is also being staged on Friday by farmers in England outside 10 Downing Street.
Organisers of the Northern Ireland rally have been supported by the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association. But the Ulster Farmers Union has withheld support.
PA