FARMERS say the long-term prosperity for the prime land of the Liverpool Plains is at stake, following State approval for Shenhua's Watermark coal mine.
But NSW's approval panel, the Planning and Assessment Commission (PAC), said impacts to agriculture would be small and "acceptable".
It also found the potential public benefits of the mine had been overstated, but nevertheless significant.
So how do the numbers stack up?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded a $150 million annual gross value of agricultural production for the Liverpool Plains Local Government Area (LGA).
The adjacent Gunnedah LGA recorded $207m.
A group of local farmers, who fear the mine's impacts to groundwater and agricultural production, have put those figures into perspective.
Under the banner SOS Liverpool Plains, the farmers told a public hearing conducted by the PAC in Gunnedah last June what they saw as the real value of the "highest agricultural productivity in NSW".
One by one, farmers told the crowd what comes off their land each year.
Jackie Crossing said she produced barley for 15.2 million stubbies of beer, beef for 343,000 meals, corn for 2.58m boxes of cornflakes, durum wheat for 31m serves of spaghetti.
Sue Willis produces beef for 416,800 meals, barley for 3.04m stubbies of beer, chick peas for 432,900 cans, wheat for 1.521m loaves of bread and 600 tonne of sorghum, which feeds many, many chickens.
Phoebe Clift supplies enough cotton for 27m pairs of socks, 4000 tonnes of sorghum to feed pigs for thousands of pork dinners.
In all, 21 women spoke, contrasting the sustainability of agriculture on the plains, compared to the 30-year predicted mine life for Watermark.
Rural Development Australia for North West NSW's new chairman Russell Stewart barely got his feet under the desk before Watermark was given the go-ahead and is now confronted with a balancing act.
The organisation promotes local industry, to grow regional communities - and Mr Stewart said mining and agriculture had a role to play.
"It is important to note agriculture is the number one industry here and it needs to be protected at all costs," he said.
"I am totally opposed to any mining on prime land."
But, Mr Stewart said supporting growth, supported industry.
"There has to be a place for mining," he said.
"We have to have energy, there's just no getting away from it.
"And new industry creates new jobs."
Shenhua has a positive pitch to sell.
"The economic case for this project is undeniable," said Watermark project manager Paul Jackson.
Watermark will spend $850 million developing the project (including local businesses and suppliers).
It will export 10m tonnes of coal a year, for 30 years, generating $1.5 billion in royalties, creating 600 direct jobs during construction.
Planning agreements between Shenhua and local governments will deliver $18m for Gunnedah, $1.5m for Liverpool Plains and $35,000 for Tamworth.
Shenhua told the PAC the mine would generate $500m a year to the regional gross production and $91m in household income.
But Mr Stewart said mining would compete with agriculture for infrastructure.
"With more mines, rail transport will be tighter and I wonder what will happen at harvest time," Mr Stewart said.
Watermark project manager Paul Jackson said workers would be required to live locally, and would spend money in the area.
Shenhua predicted it would spend $850m building the mine and employ up to 600 people in the process.
The roster would drop to 400 when digging began.
The federal government, which has final veto rights over Watermark, is considering the project's environmental impacts, including the water trigger laws championed by former independent MP Tony Windsor.
A deadline of March 13 has been set, two weeks before the NSW election, on March 28.