On the dairy front, one of the major winners from the deal, farm leaders believe some farms will expand and others will convert to dairying to capitalise on the booming Chinese market, which bought a massive $594 million of Australian dairy goods in 2013-14. Australian dairy exports to China have quadrupled in less than a decade, and are expected to rise more as dairy tariffs are removed within the next four to 11 years.

Red meat, horticulture and wine - which all have major footprints in Victoria and New South Wales - will be major beneficiaries. Tariffs of up to 25 per cent on beef exports will be removed over nine years, a huge advantage for a sector that already supplies almost 60 per cent of China's beef imports.

All tariffs on Australian horticulture exports, up to 30 per cent, will be removed, most of them within four years. Tariffs on wine exports to China, of up to 20 per cent, will be abolished within four years. Australian wine exports to China were valued at more than $200 million in 2013.

The National Farmers Federation said the China deal, coupled with recent free trade agreements signed with Japan and Korea, paved the way for "a golden age of Australian agriculture in the Asian century." NFF president Brent Finlay said the deal was "an outstanding achievement that will build on Australia's important trading future with China and provide significantly improved international market access for Australian agricultural goods".

Mr Finlay said the deal acknowledged agriculture as one of Australia's economic pillars. "Based on our own growth and the New Zealand experience we could conceivably see a tripling in agricultural exports to China within the decade. We must strive to take full advantage of the improved outcomes," he said.

Gippsland dairy farmer John Versteden, who milks 700 cows at Longwarry, said the deal was "a very significant milestone" that would generate growth in the industry. "I think it's really important in terms of the future growth that the industry is capable of in Australia. We've been hamstrung by the trade barriers that we've had to put up with there, so if they're eliminated it certainly creates a huge amount of opportunity so that we can compete on a level playing field," he said.

"To know that you can go forward for the next 10 years or more, with the opportunity that there's a good growing market out there that wants our product and it's good quality product, that's pretty impressive," he said.

Mr Versteden said the deal would create an environment where people were confident to expand. "The fact that you've got some longer term arrangements that create a little bit more stability in the marketplace, are always going to give confidence to farmers," he said.

President of the Victorian Farmers Federation, Peter Tuohey, said the deal was "very good for Australia" and a significant day in the history of Australian agriculture. "Long-term it's a big win for agriculture as a whole and Australia as a whole," he said.

Victorian agriculture, whose dairy sector is the driving force of the Australian industry and which produces more than 80 per cent of the nation's dairy exports, will be a key winner. Asked what it meant for the Victorian dairy sector, Mr Tuohey said: "It'll be huge. New Zealand has been well above Australia by being able to have their tariffs reduced - and their dairy market has just gone gang-busters. Dairy is way more profitable in New Zealand than in Australia - so the shift from other agriculture sectors in New Zealand has been phenomenal. They've all moved to dairy because of the profits, because of the good tariff deal they've got with China. So it's really improved their opportunities."