The historic agreement, signed yesterday, will further swing open the doors of the world’s most lucrative market to local suppliers.

China’s booming middle class, increasingly anxious about food security in their home nation, is developing a voracious appetite for quality food and produce.

And we have the means to deliver.

Local beef, dairy, sheep, barley and sorghum farmers are now facing historically low barriers to entering the Chinese market, with tariffs to be phased out in the coming years.

Of course, not every farmer can be an exporter and securing a foothold in a foreign market can be a costly and complex process.

But even for farmers that don’t export, the FTA should increase overall demand for produce and force up domestic farmgate prices.

The new agreement is particularly sweet for our dairy farmers.

Still rocked by aftershocks from deregulation in 2000, dairy farmers have also been cannon fodder in a supermarket price war and been forced to grapple with the vagaries of mother nature.

Since New Zealand dairy farmers signed an FTA with China in 2008, their exports to the South-Asian nation have climbed from $500 million to $3 billion a year.

Consider Australia already enjoys $150 billion of two-way trade with China and the possibilities for further growth across the board are tantalising.

The local beef cattle industry could also be on the cusp of a renaissance.

China is forecasting beef consumption will increase from six to seven million tonnes over the next five years and beef-cattle belts like ours are ideally positioned to capitalise on that growth.

We should never forget the critical role exports play in driving the economy.

When agriculture flourishes, so too does our whole region, with jobs, real estate prices and infrastructure all feeling the love.

And at a time when so many on the land are struggling to turn a buck, news of a change of fortune must feel like the perfect early Christmas gift – just add water.