Voting concludes tonight in the Irish Farmers' Association presidential election, with the final branches casting their votes in the contest to succeed Mr Tom Parlon.
As this is the first IFA presidential election using the PR system the outcome has been hard to predict.
However, there is general agreement that the front-runner in the race has been the sitting deputy president, Mr John Dillon, who is seeking to become the first man to move directly from the No 2 to the No 1 slot.
He has mounted a huge campaign but not enough to win an outright majority of the 939 branches which have been voting since early in the month.
The man thought to have been causing Mr Dillon most difficulty, Mr Pβdraig Walshe, the Laois chairman of the IFA's national dairy committee, appears to have peaked earlier in the race, and election-watchers believe he is not now the most serious challenger to Mr Dillon.
At this stage in the contest it is believed Mr Raymond O'Malley, former chairman of the organisation's beef committee, is the person most likely to cause an upset. He was the last candidate to declare but has been conducting a strong campaign.
However, with this contest being decided on transfers, nobody is ruling out the only Ulsterman in the race, Mr John Boylan, currently treasurer of the IFA, who has been quietly building support.
The IFA has defended the system of voting which means each branch, no matter how big or small, is entitled to one vote in the electoral race.
The general secretary of the IFA, Mr Michael Berkery, said during the week that the system closely followed the national PR electoral system and would be transparent to all when counting takes place next Tuesday in the Citywest Hotel, Dublin.
He said he expected the result of the national ballot to be known shortly after 8 p.m. on Tuesday.