Farmer's tax breaks set to come sooner

Farmers could gain earlier access to tax write-offs for spending on farm infrastructure in line with budget tax breaks for small business.

That wasn't set to come in until 2017 but Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce says he's been talking to Treasurer Joe Hockey about it.

"I hope to do something to truncate that time frame into a more immediate form and do it in the very near future," he told ABC television on Wednesday night.

Mr Joyce said the budget tax changes for working backpackers would not turn away farm workers.

He said Australians had to work the full year to gain the tax-free threshold and it was incongruous that visitors could work for a few months to get the same tax-free threshold.

"That actually puts them at a strategic advantage," he said.