Labor's ambition plan to put agriculture in all major policies

Senator Murray Watt wants to put some "flesh on the bones" of last year's priorities, but he's harbouring a more ambitious goal.

The Agriculture Minister acknowledged the industry was a canary in the coal mine for the rest of the country, often forced to confront issues months or years before the rest of the nation.

Climate change, natural disasters, zoonotic disease, biosecurity breaches, trade wars and water security have all been front and centre for the agriculture industry for years.

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Senator Watt told farmers to expect agriculture form key parts of the government's economic, international, climate and sustainability policies.

"What people will see over the course of this year is agriculture find its way into some of the core agendas for the government as a whole," Senator Watt said.

"I don't want agriculture to be seen as off to the side of government activity. I want it to be part of the central agenda of this government.

"There's a lot of willingness to have that happen and a lot of interest from the Prime Minister down."

The Albanese government has tinkered with the membership of several cabinet subcommittees to "literally put agriculture at the table".

"This is evidence of the fact that we're not just saying that we want agriculture to be part of the key agendas, but we're actually ensuring that government structures have an agriculture voice at the table," Senator Watt said.

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Labor is expected to lean on the soft diplomacy power of agriculture in the formation of its international policy.

"There's a massive debate worldwide about food security and as an exporter, we have a really big role to play," Senator Watt said.

"But as a country, we've got a lot of ideas about how we can solve some of the world's food security problems."

Many of the industry's immediate priorities remain the same, Senator Watt said, with a particular focus on three issues; biosecurity, workforce issues and sustainability.

"Last year was really about laying the foundations in the portfolio and setting priorities... this year, what I want to do is put some flesh on the bones of those priorities," Senator Watt said.

"I'd argue we achieved a fair bit last year, but this is a critical year in the term of the government to start getting some more runs on the board."