AgForce president John Cotter said there needs to be a watching brief on possible softening in demand for commodities on a global scale because of reduced affordability and the requirement for financial institutions to continue to have finance available to keep farmers operating.

"These are the four factors that are needed to keep us strong, to keep us producing and to keep us investing in Australian agriculture," Mr Cotter said.

"It must be business as usual in the bush and we can't do that without available finance for equipment and reinvestment.

"The cost of finance is one thing, but the availability of it is even more important."

Mr Cotter said the move by the Reserve Bank to drop interest rates by 1pc yesterday should give Australians some comfort that the Australian economy can be managed, where possible, to minimise the negative international impacts.

The A$ opened at 70USc this morning and was being tipped to dip below 70USc today, after being nearly at parity just six weeks ago.

"The falling dollar opens up a lot of opportunities for soft commodities, such as grain and meat, because they are not discretionary items like flat-screen TVs, but we remain wary of potential impacts on global commodity prices," Mr Cotter said.