Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has helped make the case for more irrigation funding in Tasmania.

The Nationals leader this week visited farming areas plagued by dry spells, including inspecting Southernfield dam - the centrepiece of the Southern Highlands Irrigation Scheme (SHIS).

The scheme – due to be finished mid 2018 - will deliver 7,251 megalitres of water to 8,000 hectares of arable land.

When the allocations went up for sale, all were quickly swept up by the region's farmers.

Mr Joyce said there are lessons to be learned from the success of the Southern Highlands scheme.

“You're actually into it; you're getting it built,” he said.

“The [other states] are giving me a myriad of reasons why it's difficult.

“They're finding frogs and they're finding newts, and they're finding a whole range of things that say you can't actually get into it.

“I like hanging around doers.”

The Tasmanian Government and Tasmanian Irrigation will soon put forward more regions for irrigation funding, with reports the next round will be worth about $145 million.

It assumes farmers will pay a third of that, and the rest will come from state and federal coffers.

Liberal senator Jonathan Duniam said the Commonwealth had to be on board.

“We need to ensure the Federal Government stumps up the requisite amount so we can actually unlock the potential of our land,” he said.