VOTERS in the bush will have to continue to lobby hard, whatever the outcome of Saturday's election, primary producers say.
With the polls showing the Labor Party is set to regain government, Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) president Peter Tuohey said he expected the lobby group to "be on their doorstep, every day, for quite a while".
"We will have to work very hard to get the realisation into the Labor Party around how to factor in farming," Mr Tuohey said.
"They don't seem to have many people who know much about it.
"The VFF will be very busy.
"It's going to be hard yards to get an understanding of the economic benefits of farming and what is going to happen if they don't manage rural areas.
"We will build a relationship with them and try to get the message through as to how important it is to have a good rural economy."
The Nationals' members of parliament would need to "go out, and very hard, with the realisation they have to look after the people who vote them in", he said.
"If the Coalition loses, they will really have to push the voice of those electorates they come from as we need every bit of support we can get."
United Dairyfarmers of Victoria President Tyran Jones (pictured) agreed that whoever won power, farmers would have their work cut out being heard on Spring Street.
"Primarily, I'd like to see a strengthening of the commitment to dairy extension and research and development, which has been diminished due to a tightening of funding," Mr Jones said.
He said during the term of the next government, urgent attention needed to be paid to the replacement of single-wire earth-return power lines.
"A lot of farms are on lines which are at capacity, so apart from being stressed already, that poses challenges for growth, both in milk production and processing sites."
Ararat grazier Craig Hinchcliffe, who runs a prime lamb operation, said there was a need to upgrade infrastructure to increase overseas market share.
"To get to international markets means getting product onto ships or into airfreight efficiently and cheaply if they are going to create increased demand for Australian produce," he said.
Mr Hinchcliffe said the government should help ensure Victoria could position itself as the most efficient hub in Australia for exporting food.
It could also assist by promoting Brand Victoria, he said.
However both the current Minister for Agriculture, Peter Walsh, and shadow minister Jacinta Allan, were cautious about departing from the Australia-based marketing strategy.