Silage and compost needs to be carefully managed. 

You must not feed out silage on the beds or banks of streams, rivers, lakes, or wetlands.

You should check the location of your silage or compost pit to make sure it complies with the rules on distances from waterways, neighbours, roads, and public areas. 

The Otago Water Plan prohibits the discharge of silage and compost leachate to: 

• any waterway, including river and lake beds, drains or water races that go to rivers and lakes or to coastal water 
• saturated land 
• land, if it results in ponding 
• land, if it results in an overland flow to a waterway, or coastal water, or to a drain (open or mole and tile drain system) or water race that goes to them 
• any bore or soak hole 
• land within 50 metres of any waterway, bore, or soak hole

The Otago Waste Plan also has rules that apply to silage and compost. You will require resource consent if: 

• there will be groundwater seepage into the pit;  
• if the silage stack or pit is close to a bore/well used for drinking water (see Rule 7.6.14 Discharges from silage production (permitted activity) for more detailed information);
• you want to produce silage on land other than production land;  
• you want to locate the silage stack or pit within 50m of any property boundary (excluding road boundaries);  
• the silage stack or pit will cause a nuisance and will be noxious, dangerous, offensive or objectionable beyond the boundaries of the property.