The miners were was given the OK yesterday to start drilling on farm land, albeit under the “strongest restrictions in the world”.

The government released its strategic regional land use policy, outlining the extra hurdles companies will have to jump to start work.

Mining companies will have to prove any extraction will not destroy water quality, or prime farming and grazing land.

And in a bid to appease farmers, the government has removed the clause that gave it power to override the restrictions in exceptional circumstances. All CSG companies will have to meet the strict guidelines.

Farmers Association president Fiona Simson said farmers were not protected by the policy.

“We got an incomplete package with watered down water protections and a virtual green light for exploration and mining right across most of the state,” Ms Simson said.

Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham accused the Premier of “declaring war” on farmers.

But Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said the increased regulation would make NSW less attractive for mining companies.

“The area of land classified strategic has increased threefold since the draft mapping was first released in March, so much more land will be covered by the new gateway assessment process,” he said.

“This new layer of project assessment comes at a time when commodity prices are falling and production and other input costs in Australia are rising.”