The independent member for Indi, Helen Haines, says the Federal Government needs to do more to help farmers and rural communities face climate change challenges into the future.

Key points: Helen Haines is introducing a motion in the Lower House to push for climate change research and clean energy development

Helen Haines is introducing a motion in the Lower House to push for climate change research and clean energy development One north-east Victorian grapegrower says his grapes have been increasingly struck by frosts and wants more support for winemakers

One north-east Victorian grapegrower says his grapes have been increasingly struck by frosts and wants more support for winemakers A nearby sheep producer says he would welcome more support to improve his carbon farming system

Dr Haines is introducing a private member's motion to the House of Representatives today, calling for a national strategy on climate change and agriculture.

The motion includes a push for comprehensive research, clean energy development, targets, and investment to help Australian farmers adapt to climate change and build rural community resilience.

"[Agriculture] is such an important economic driver for us, yet the one economy that is incredibly vulnerable to climate change," Dr Haines said.

"It's so vulnerable to climate change that it can change the way that we undertake agriculture into the future in a really dramatic way."

The motion will be seconded by the independent member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie.

It comes after a number of Greens, Labor, and Liberal MPs have signed on to the crossbench-led climate action group, Parliamentary Friends of Climate Action, which is co-chaired by Dr Haines.

"I am calling for a cohesive approach," she said.

"The Australian population is really tired of partisan politics around any conversation around climate.

"I know that regional communities don't care who is doing something, they want our Government to actually do something."

'Happening now'

Eldorado winemaker Ben Dahlenburg has already been battling with the effects of climate change.

Over a decade ago his parents planted at their north-east Victorian vineyard a Sicilian grape variety, Nero d'Avola, which is less water intensive and grows well in hot areas.

Helen Haines meets producers Ben Dahlenburg and Tom Briggs. ( ABC Goulburn Murray: Ashlee Aldridge )

But he said despite this they had not been left immune to climate change.

Frosts have been increasingly testing to his team due to more cold, clear nights and less moisture, while more hot days have hindered the vines' growth.

"It's really alarming to see what is happening," Mr Dahlenburg said.

"Every year, the vines burst earlier, the fruit comes off earlier.

"It's a real thing that's happening now and it's gone beyond bickering and arguments — we need to really work together to get something happening."

Mr Dahlenburg said under Dr Haines's motion, he would want to see more support for winemakers to transition from grapes that thrived in the local climate just a decade ago, to grapes that sustained a shifting climate, which was reflected in the newly released Climate Guides by the Government.

Call for help to cash in on carbon

Rutherglen sheep and cropping farmer Tom Briggs has turned his focus to carbon over the past few years in order to make his property more fertile and profitable.

Carbon farming works to capture carbon in vegetation and soils, helping increase production and create healthier land.

"We have the ability to be one of the biggest carbon pumps and draw it down out of the atmosphere, but we also get the biggest benefit from it," Mr Briggs said.

"One gram of carbon in our soil equals an extra 8g of water.

"We build carbon, we build resilience."

An increase in frosts due to climate change has been challenging for producers. ( ABC News )

Initially, it was a move purely driven to increase their profit and productivity, but Mr Briggs said it was also an environmentally friendly measure that more farmers were looking to take advantage of.

He said government support through Dr Haines's motion would be welcome, and could help benefit farmers and fight climate change.

"We're constantly trialling and coming up with new ways to improve our system, to improve the health of our soil, to improve our resilience, to lower our financial risk," he said.

"To be doing that out on your own is proving to be a challenge."

The unpredictable climate has also been making the work difficult.

His property has recorded a 0.2 per cent increase in organic carbon over two years, but last year's dry weather meant that carbon buffer they had worked to build was lost.

"Getting a consistent trajectory, getting a consistent mapping of how it works is going to be difficult," he said.