Farmers have applauded the federal government's plan to transform Australia's agriculture industry into a competitive force on the world stage.
The long-awaited agriculture white paper, which includes tax concessions and drought assistance, is designed to strengthen the industry and take advantage of Asia's growing wealthy middle class.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the $4 billion blueprint was a reminder the $51 billion industry was crucial to Australia's future.
"One day the coal will have been dug up, the gas will have been extracted, but we will always need food and our land forever," he told reporters in Victoria on Saturday.
The National Farmers' Federation gave the plan an eight out of 10, saying it would create a stronger business environment for farmers and generate better returns.
But it said the paper could have done more for transport infrastructure and branding of Australian agricultural products overseas.
The cotton industry described it as a shot in the arm.
The paper commits up to $250 million in drought concessional loans for farmers each year for 11 years.
There is also $300 million towards the national water infrastructure fund to improve dams and plan for new projects.
The document also confirms the appointment of a new umpire within the competition regulator to help farmers settle supply disputes with supermarket groups.
Mr Abbott said competition needed to be free and fair but he didn't want to buy into a debate about Coles and Woolworths.
"All sectors from time to time are subject to a degree of, if you like, corporate overreach and it's important that all sectors are appropriately policed," he said.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce defended the six-month delay in releasing the paper, describing it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference to farming families and invest in their "dignity".
Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon slammed the paper as lacking any vision and said its value had been deliberately inflated by including money committed previously as well as $2.5 billion worth of loans that farmers would be required to pay back with interest.
"The $4 billion is illusionary," he told reporters in Canberra.
Labor would not oppose any of the measures, he said.
Greens agriculture spokeswoman Rachel Siewert said the paper did not go far enough in addressing climate change, which was covered in five paragraphs on page 109 of the document.
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