Senator Joyce discovered his northern NSW farm was an exploratory target only after a neighbour tipped him off.

Ironically, the senator was sitting on a public hearing into the industry’s impacts in Brisbane last month when he was informed Eastern Star Gas was given approval to explore CSG at his Baradine farm.

He now joins a number of Queensland and NSW farmers affected by the CSG industry.

“People say I’m influenced by the fact it affects me,” Senator Joyce told AAP.

“Well absolutely. I’ll have to have my head removed for it not to affect me.

“Of course it motivates me but I am also motivated by the fact that it’s completely unjust."

He said he wasn’t against CSG mining but he was concerned about environmental impacts and the lack of rights farmers were afforded.

“The farmer really has no rights and gets no money from it,” Senator Joyce said.

“On my own place where I pay the rates, insurance, repairs and maintenance I can’t just go and knock down trees but the mining companies can.

“I can’t just put down a bore and take what I want but the mining companies can.”

He said compensation for farmers was also paltry.

“We’re finding that some of these wells can produce up to $1 million a day, while other ones can produce between $10,000 and $30,000 a day,” he said.

“Yet, we find out what the farmer gets – $240 a year, $1500 a year and the best of them were $8000 or $9000 a year.”

The Senate Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee’s inquiry is examining whether CSG extraction will affect water resources, farming land and property values.

The hearing will resume in NSW at Narrabri, about 160km north of Senator Joyce’s farm, today