The protest, organised by COPA and COGECA, representative bodies for farmers in Europe, aims to demand action from agriculture ministers in a year of extreme difficulty for EU pigmeat, dairy, fruit and vegetable and beef markets.

COPA and COGECA say the market difficulties have been caused mainly by the Russian ban which "shot the EU’s main export market overnight".

"Prices are below production costs in many countries and farm incomes are low, forcing some out of business."

COPA and COGECA announced plans to stage the protest at the end of July, a few days after the Luxembourg presidency decided to convene the extraordinary Agriculture Council meeting to discuss the economic crises in the dairy and livestock sectors.

The mix of 2,000 farmers and agri-cooperatives will meet at the Copa-Cogeca building in Brussels at 10 am local time to hear a press conference, followed by the demonstration outside the Justus-Lipsius building where the ministers will be meeting between noon and 3 pm.

Some EU ministers, including Simon Coveney, will be using the meeting as an opportunity to call for stronger EU support measures, especially in the dairy sector, while others such as the UK's Liz Truss will not be making this a priority.