NFF president, David Crombie, said his organisation had enjoyed a very constructive relationship with Ms Gillard and had worked closely with her in her previous portfolio of industrial relations and education.

Mr Crombie said he hopes to be able to even get the Prime Minister into rural Australia soon to discuss some of those key issues with her, in particular the Murray Darling Basin and the forthcoming water reform plan and the emissions trading scheme.

"We've had a very open and constructive relationship with Julia Gillard in her previous role, certainly in relation to the areas of industrial relations and workplace reforms her office is very co-operative," Mr Crombie said.

"We're looking forward to continuing that constructive relationship and we're looking forward to the opportunity to brief her on all the other things affecting Australian agriculture."

Mr Crombie said NFF hasn't discussed the broader nature of agriculture with her in the past but in their discussions with her on industrial relations and workplace reform as it relates to agriculture she had proven "very understanding of our particular issues".

"We need flexibility in the workplace, we have a lot of things in the agricultural workplace that are time critical and we can't be bound to 9am to 5pm with double times, and triple times," Mr Crombie said.

"We needed flexibility, and Julia Gillard recognised that and we were able to negotiate what I think is a very good arrangement with the single pastoral award."

On the CPRS Mr Crombie said NFF wants to brief her on agriculture's role on a CPRS and how agriculture "can be part of the solution".

"We've had very constructive negotiations with Minister Wong, and we got a position and it is Labor party policy that the direct emissions of agriculture would be excluded from a CPRS," Mr Crombie said.