Australian farmers have seen profits dwindle by up to 40pc as the slowing global economy continues to depress food and other agricultural prices.
This comes as the European Union reintroduced export subsidies on Friday, making it harder for Australian farmers to compete internationally and contributing to the downward spiral on prices.
The National Farmers' Federation will call for infrastructure spending and tax relief to help regional Australia get through the economic slowdown, in a budget submission to be released today.
The Sydney Morning Herald understands the submission will tackle 10 key policy areas including water, drought, education, quarantine, infrastructure and tax.
But chief among the federation's concerns is the money spent on research and development in the sector, which has slumped from 5.1pc of agricultural gross domestic product in 1978 to 2.9pc in 2005.
This is now threatening the ability of farmers to maintain the 2.8pc productivity growth seen over the past two decades.
The federation's chief executive, Ben Fargher, confirmed that the submission would call for more money for the CSIRO and additional funds for climate change research.
Mr Fargher said the Government needed to spend more from its $20 billion infrastructure fund on the agricultural sector to make sure that regional telephone, broadband and road networks were brought up to scratch.
"What we're saying is you've got a financial crisis and you've got a global food shortage and our sector is contributing 12pc of GDP," he said.
"We've got research and development spending down, a lack of infrastructure - like phones that don't work and broadband that doesn't work - and problems accessing higher education.
"Now if you're looking for areas to spend money to stimulate the economy, there's a lasting benefit if you invest [in agriculture]."
The NFF has also called for the tax zone rebate scheme, which provides tax breaks for people in regional Australia, to be reviewed and extended to include businesses.
It said the five-year waiting period for farmers before they can claim the age pension should be abolished.
Mr Fargher said that although the falling dollar and falling interest rates would help farmers, the average debt of a farm in Australia stood at $323,000.
The sector would have a tough time with falling prices over the next 12 months.
Among the hardest hit are dairy farmers, who will see their prices fall by 30-40pc in the next five months.
The price fall prompted the European Union to reintroduce export subsidies for dairy products.
The Trade Minister, Simon Crean, will travel to Switzerland this month to try to conclude the Doha trade talks which would rule out moves to reintroduce old tariffs and subsidies amid the economic slowdown.
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