BBC News Online heard about the experience of Kenton Honeybun, one of the farmers taking part in the Farmers' Day of Action.

When Kenton Honeybun began working on his father's farm at the age of 16 he did not have an inkling of the cash concerns his career would bring.

Now 42-years-old and running a dairy farm himself near Warminster, Wiltshire, he says things are very different.

The costs are rising, the income is going down and we are caught between a rock and a hard place

Kenton Honeybun

Mr Honeybun realises things change with time but that knowledge has clearly given him scant comfort.

He explains: "Most farmers farm because they like farming...

"Now the first thing on your mind is if the bank manager is going to ring you when you get up in the morning."

Cost concerns

It has been 10 years since the farmer took on his own tenancy and in that time things have gone "pear-shaped", he says.

Like many farmers, Mr Honeybun says recent years have seen a range of factors pile up against his efforts to make a profit from his 180 cows.

Polls have suggested shoppers would pay more for a pint

"The costs are rising, the income is going down and we are caught between a rock and a hard place," he says.

In the mid-1990s, farmers were paid about 25p for every litre of milk, he says.

By 2000, that price had dropped to about 16p before farmers' campaigning helped to return it to an average of 20p - the level Mr Honeybun calls "break-even point".

Falling incomes

"Since last December, by hook or by crook the processors or the supermarkets - although the supermarkets deny forcing the price of milk down - got it to between 16p or 17p on average," he continues.

The dairy farmer says such falls have seen his income down �30,000 already on last year, when he only "broke even".

Tony Blair said supermarkets had an "armlock" on farmers

And he predicts it will fall another �10,000 if next month's new milk contracts do not see prices rise.

So what does it mean for his livelihood?

"It's very, very tight," says Mr Honeybun. "There is no money for reinvestment.

"I've had two afternoons off this year. I do not go on any foreign holidays."

Public sympathy?

At least, he is still in business.

Foot-and-mouth disease added another major trouble to farmers' woes last year and for many it was a fatal blow.

That crisis turned the spotlight on a countryside in crisis but Mr Honeybun is still unconvinced that the public recognise the hard realities.

"I think overall they are sympathetic to farmers but do not know the financial impliactions of what's going on," he says.

Opinion polls suggest shoppers would be willing to pay an extra 5p for their pint of milk, he explains - if it went to farmers rather than the big processors and supermarkets.

Now, he hopes the new protest will provoke action from the government.

Hanging on

Mr Honeybun admits he "loathes" Tony Blair's government.

But he is particularly angry that the prime minister spoke of the retail food industry having farmers in an "armlock" and since then has not appeared to act to break that grip.

He is clear about what is at stake for him personally as he joins Friday's protest.

"I am hanging on by my fingernails. I hope I am going to get through it. It's a tough struggle, but I'm broke."