The Otago Federated Farmers president and Taieri dairy farmer said he was not defending farmers who polluted waterways, but said dairy farmers appeared to be being singled out by council enforcement officers as opposed to other farmers, industry and municipalities.
"Pollution is pollution. It is not a worry who is polluting, it needs to be cleaned up."
Mr Lord said while some dairy farmers needed to lift their game, credit needed to be given for the level of improvement to effluent handling systems.
He estimated farmers on his road had spent more than $100,000 upgrading their systems in the last couple of years.
He has spent $27,000 on a new effluent pond and system, but said farmers still appeared to be being singled out.
He gave the example of a Dunedin City Council blocked sewerage pipe last month forcing raw sewage to overflow into the Kaikorai Stream, yet there was little public outcry.
A year ago, the Otago Regional Council issued a plumbing company responsible for raw sewage flowing into a stream at East Taieri with a $750 infringement notice and ordered it to pay costs of $918.
Mr Lord said the fine paled into insignificance compared with those levied on farmers.
"We just want the big gap that there seems to be between urban pollution and rural pollution closed, that we're all treated equally."
Mr Lord acknowledged that Otago farmers benefited from a council policy which allowed dairy farming and effluent management to be a permitted activity and not require resource consent, but he believed they were doing more to correct problems in the industry than they received credit for.
"Farmers are putting money into these things. Just go a bit easier on us and look at other polluters because we're not the only ones."
A company owned by Clydevale dairy farmer Rob Van Vugt was in February fined $10,000 for allowing cows to disturb the bed in a tributary of the Pomahaka River.
While not bitter about being caught or denying what happened, Mr Van Vugt also believed dairy farmers were being singled out, giving the example of deer wallowing in gullies creating environmental damage but not attracting attention from council enforcement officers.
"That is the only thing that irks me."
The council handling of his case also annoyed him, describing it as "very average".
He learnt as the case was being put together that an infringement notice had earlier been issued to a sharemilker on one of his farms, saying he should have been notified.
"As a farm owner, I didn't know about that."
The river bed pugging was discovered by council staff on June 22 but he did not know of the inspection until August 20.
The council also did not take water tests to prove the pugging affected water quality, even though a council report said dirty water never reached the Pomahaka River, about 100m downstream from where the incident occurred.
Mr Van Vugt said there was so much uncertainty and a feeling dairy farmers were being targeted, that sharemilkers were nervous about irrigating effluent even in ideal conditions in case they were fined.