There's no point trying to ring Duncan Fraser on his mobile if he's at home on his property near Hay, in the western Riverina region of NSW.
The president of the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) lives in a "greyspot", and only gets limited mobile coverage from towers alongside a nearby highway.
"Sometimes if I go outside and up a windmill or jump up and down I can get reception," he told AAP.
As the head of the peak national farmers body, Mr Fraser was obviously pleased this week when the coalition pledged $100 million to improving a real problem for rural Australians - poor mobile phone coverage.
Even more than the policy itself, the NFF was glad to finally see rural issues rating a mention on the election campaign.
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Farmers worry they'll yet again be overlooked this election as the major parties focus their energies on marginal urban seats.
After the first week of campaigning threw up nothing for rural voters, Mr Fraser and other farmers were "put through the torture" of watching the first leaders debate for any mention of agriculture.
There was one reference, toward the end of debate, when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praised agribusiness and called on Australia's producers to reach out to Asian markets.
That was it.
"I think the clear message there is they don't see agriculture as a key issue," Mr Fraser said.
"They obviously just don't see it as a vote winner like policies on boat people or the budget deficit."
He said it had been frustrating trying to get the major parties to spell out their plans for regional Australia, with promises the details would be revealed later in the campaign.
Labor has its National Food Plan, but Mr Fraser said funding for the long-term plan wasn't assured and it was unclear where they saw agriculture in the future.
The coalition wants to cut regulatory burdens and says agricultural exports are one of the five pillars of the national economy, but hasn't offered much detail beyond that.
Mr Fraser said even though the Greens were "on the nose" in rural areas, their recent food policy had some merit.
Given both the major parties were only promising to maintain or even cut spending on rural research and development - a top priority for the NFF - the Greens had pledged an extra $300 million.
Mr Fraser said the federation would push ahead with plans to rate the agriculture policies of each of the parties, even if there wasn't much to work with.
"We can only go on what we've got at this stage. We can't just sit around waiting," he said.
