The Environment Court is supporting Waikato Regional Council's plan to tighten controls on farms surrounding Lake Taupo, in a bid to clean up the lake.
The changes will make livestock farming a controlled activity under the Resource Management Act, in an attempt to decrease nitrogen leaching into the lake.
Federated Farmers went to the Environment Court because it thinks farmers should not need a permit to run their operations.
It says the council's plan to impose tight controls on the farms will slow down production.
Spokesperson Lachlan McKenzie says the scheme will mean huge monitoring and compliance costs.
The organisation has two weeks to lodge an appeal with the High Court, and its lawyers are looking into that possibility.
