"That wouldn't be the way you'd see it if you read that. I'm just a bit disappointed when I thought we were making some really good progress."
The Government had "an open-door policy" and there had been "robust interaction" with DairyNZ and other industry leaders on many issues, which O'Connor said he welcomed.
"I think [this has] just been a failure to acknowledge some of the really good work that's being done to actually get us to where we need to be."
Number one on DairyNZ's list of recommendations is for the Government to "slow down the speed and scale of regulatory change farmers are facing".
Mackay suggested this was "fair enough".
O'Connor disagreed.
"No it isn't - do you know why? We have to achieve better water quality because we've got international obligations around climate change ... which we're starting work on.
"We haven't even arrived at any proposals, we're working with DairyNZ and others on this."
Climate Change Minister James Shaw was currently representing New Zealand at COP26 in Glasgow. Mackay pointed out that other countries with higher emissions, such as China and Russia, had not attended the event.
"The issue doesn't go away just because their leaders haven't turned up. They'll have many, many officials there," O'Connor said.
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Damien O'Connor on The Country below:
Back home, Groundswell NZ, the farmer-led group behind July's "Howl of a Protest", is planning another event on November 21 - "The Mother of all Protests".
Mackay asked O'Connor if he would consider meeting with Groundswell NZ.
Yesterday on The Country, Groundswell NZ co-founder Bryce McKenzie denied the group was anti-vax, or that it had ties to Bishop Brian Tamaki.
This came after one of the group's coordinators was photographed meeting with leaders of Destiny Church.
"He contacted us some time ago before the coalition of freedoms and rights people started having these get-togethers," McKenzie told Mackay.
"He said that he was meeting with the Tamakis and we said that wasn't a good idea and that if he was doing that he certainly wasn't to be using the Groundswell name because we didn't want them involved."
Listen to Jamie Mackay interview Bryce McKenzie on The Country below:
McKenzie said it was something the coordinator was "doing personally" and Groundswell NZ didn't want to be "guilty by association".
"Whatever individuals get involved in we have no right to stop them. We asked them not to do it. If they do it as an individual - what can we do?"
Mackay told O'Connor that McKenzie and his co-founder Laurie Paterson were not anti-vax, although he was concerned "The Mother of all Protests" could be "hijacked by extremists".
O'Connor said he thought Groundswell had done good work but risked being "dragged down by the people who may not represent the majority".
However, he said he had "plenty of other things to do" than meet with McKenzie and Paterson.
"I have been quite busy lately and I have to prioritise my meetings...and work with the things that are most important."
Also in today's interview: O'Connor talked about how trade talks with the EU were going.
