Managing your offal pit

Offal pits, also known as dead holes, are commonly used on farms to dispose of animal remains. While practical, they pose environmental and biosecurity risks.

Improperly located or managed offal pits can:

  • contaminate soil and groundwater (including domestic or stock drinking water)
  • pollute rivers, streams, wetlands, and lakes
  • spread disease-causing pathogens
  • attract pests and vermin
  • create unpleasant odours and visual issues.

Alternatives to offal pits include single animal burial, dead stock collection, and composting.

Download our guide to offal pits here.

Download our guide to composting animal remains here

Cow in paddock shutterstock 2466017111
Have you seen our guidance for composting animal mortalities on-farm?

Environmental risks of offal pits

During decomposition, highly concentrated leachate is discharged from the base of the pit into the environment. If offal pits are not sited correctly on the right soils, poorly treated leachate can enter waterways and groundwater.

Never dispose of offal:

  • close to a waterbody, bore, farm boundary or in a drinking water protection zone
  • where there’s shallow groundwater/a high water table or if there’s water in your pit
  • where there’s insufficient soil or sand below the pit to act as a filter for leachate.
One active offal pit is allowed on farms 100 hectares or less, while larger farms can have one active pit for every 100 hectares. Your pit may only be used for animal remains from your own stock.

Designing an offal pit

Properly designed offal pits help you dispose of animal remains in a way that prevents contamination of the surrounding soil or water sources. Follow these guidelines to build a compliant and environmentally responsible offal disposal system.

Location and siting

  • Know the water table at your proposed site: The required ground and land surface separations mean that offal pits are only permitted where the highest groundwater is at least 4 metres below ground level.
  • Offal pits should be at least 100 metres from:
    • surface water bodies (rivers, lakes, streams)
    • any bore used for water abstraction
    • your property boundaries
    • coastal marine areas 
    • a community drinking-water protection zone
    • a listed archaeological site
    • a residential, commercial or industrial zone.
  • Avoid poorly drained soils, gullies, critical source areas, and areas prone to flooding or ponding during high rainfall.
  • Choose elevated ground to prevent runoff from entering the pit.
 Never use or construct an offal pit if there is water in it. Contact your local Land Management Advisor on 0800 324 636 for advice.

Soil type

  • Locate your pit in heavier soils that are not free draining. Silty or clay soils are preferred to minimise leachate movement.
  • Avoid sandy soils, gravel and limestone.

Structural design

  • Size: Maximum volume 50 metres³, (5m wide x 5m long x 2m deep) - 50 metres³ is about the size of two double beds down and two across. Limit depth to under 3 metres, so any waste mistakenly deposited in the pit can be safely removed.
  • Groundwater separation: Minimum of 3 metres of sand/soil (not just gravel) between the base of the pit and the highest groundwater level.
  • Land surface separation: Minimum of 0.5 metres of soil or impermeable lid installed between offal level and land surface when full.

Covers and fencing

  • Cover the pit securely with an impervious lid to prevent nuisance odour, scavenging, and surface runoff entering the pit
  • Fence off the pit to keep livestock and wildlife out.

Offal pit usage and maintenance

  • Make sure your pit is suitable for handling peak disposal, for example, during calving and lambing periods in spring

  • If the pit is no longer used or filled to within 0.5 metres of the original land surface, the contents must be covered with soil (to a depth of at least 0.5 metres) or covered with an impermeable lid

  • Ensure that only animal remains are disposed of in the pit; otherwise, it could be classified as a hazardous site.

Offal pit and single animal burial rules

Understanding the rules, meeting consent conditions, and being prepared for Farm Environment Plan (FEP) audits are all essential to managing environmental risks and avoiding enforcement action. 

Your offal pit needs to comply with the permitted activity rules set out in the Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan (CLWRP), or you'll need a resource consent.

Download our guide to managing and complying with offal pit rules.

Read the permitted activity rules for offal pits under the CLWRP

General rules

  1. In addition to the provisions of the Canterbury Land Water Regional Plan and any relevant district plan, any activity which may modify, damage or destroy pre-1900 archaeological sites is subject to the archaeological authority process under the Heritage New Zealand Poutere Taonga Act 2014. An archaeological authority is required from Heritage New Zealand to modify, damage or destroy any archaeological site, whether recorded or not in the New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero website.
  2. The discharge of carcasses and offal to land must not create a nuisance under the Health Act 1956. This means that the activity must not be offensive, likely to be injurious to health, spread disease, likely to harbour rats and other vermin, or give rise to the breeding of flies or other insects which are capable of transmitting disease.
  3. If the discharge of carcasses and offal creates risks to human health it is appropriate to notify the Medical Officer of Health or Health Protection Officer for the area. Situations where this might be necessary include: a. potential for microbial contamination of water supplies; b. any infestations of vermin or other disease vectors; or c. fallen stock left to decompose in the field where they die.

Rule 5.24: Permitted activity rules for offal pits

The use of land for an offal pit and the associated discharges onto or into land in circumstances where a contaminant may enter water are permitted activities, provided the following conditions are met:
  1. The discharge is to a pit that:

(a) has a volume of less than 50 m³; and
(b) is sited and designed to prevent surface runoff entering the pit; and
(c) is designed to prevent animals from gaining access to the pit; and

  1. The discharge is only of dead animals or animal parts produced on the property where the pit is located; and
  2. No more than one pit is constructed or used per 100 hectares of property area per annum; and
  3. When any pit is filled to within 0.5 m of the original land surface, or is no longer used, the contents are covered with soil to a depth of at least 0.5 m or the pit is covered with an impermeable lid; and
  4. No discharge occurs:

(a) within 100 metres of a surface water body, a bore used for water abstraction, the boundary of the site, or the Coastal Marine Area; or
(b) within a Community Drinking-water Protection Zone as set out in Schedule 1; or Canterbury Land and Water Regional Plan
(c) unless there is at least 3 metres of soil or sand between the point of discharge and the highest groundwater level; or
(d) within the Christchurch Groundwater Protection Zone as shown on the Planning Maps; or
(e) onto or into land listed as an archaeological site; or
(f) within any area or zone identified in a proposed or operative district plan for residential, commercial or industrial purposes.

5.25: Single animal burial

Despite Rule 5.24, the use of land to bury a single dead animal and the associated discharge onto or into land in circumstances where a contaminant may enter water are permitted activities, provided the following conditions are met:
  1. The dead animal cannot be disposed of in accordance with the conditions of Rule 5.24; and
  2. The dead animal results from agricultural production on the same property; and
  3. The dead animal is buried in a pit which does not contain any water, and is immediately and completely covered by sufficient soil or plant material so as to prevent discharge of odour to air, or other nuisance; and
  4. The burial location is not within any area or zone identified in a proposed or operative district plan for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes; and
  5. The burial site is at least 50 m from any:

(a) surface water body; or
(b) bore used for water abstraction; or
(c) property boundary.

5.26 Offal pits as a restricted discretionary activity (does not meet one or more conditions in rule 5.24)

The use of land for an offal pit and the associated discharges onto or into land in circumstances where a contaminant may enter water that does not meet one or more of the conditions in Rule 5.24 is a restricted discretionary activity, where the following

condition is met:

  1. The disposal and discharge are the subject of a Farm Environment Plan that has been prepared in accordance with Schedule 7 Part A.

The exercise of discretion is restricted to the following matters:

  1. The actual or potential environmental effects of not meeting the condition or conditions of Rule 5.24 or Rule 5.25; and
  2. The actual or potential environmental effects of the discharge on the quality and safety of human and animal drinking-water; and
  3. The quality of, compliance with, and auditing of the Farm Environment Plan; and
  4. Any adverse effects on Ngāi Tahu values, or on sites of Ngāi Tahu significance, including wāhi tapu and wāhi taonga.

5.26A Offal pits as a restricted discretionary activity (does not meet conditions of rule 5.26)

The use of land for an offal pit and the associated discharges onto or into land in circumstances where a contaminant may enter water that does not meet the condition of Rule 5.26 is a discretionary activity.

 

Meeting consent conditions and audit expectations

Monitoring consent conditions and meeting Farm Environment Plan (FEP) audit expectations is crucial for managing environmental risks on farm.

Consent monitoring: If your offal pit activity requires a land use or discharge consent, you must meet all consent conditions. A resource management officer (RMO) may inspect:

  • your offal pit
  • other point sources (e.g. silage pads, refuse pits)
  • evidence of compliance.

You must retain records to show how you are meeting your conditions. If you do not comply with your resource consent conditions, you could receive a written warning, an abatement or infringement notice, prosecution and/or a fine as well as recovery of costs for enforcement actions.

Farm Environment Plan audits: During a Farm Environment Plan (FEP) audit, an auditor will review the systems you have in place to manage environmental and mahinga kai risks. This includes focusing on minimising environmental risks from stored materials that can leach and contaminate the surroundings, such as:

  • silage
  • rubbish pits
  • used agrichemical containers
  • deceased stock
  • compost and offal pits.

All discharges from these sources must be controlled to avoid direct contamination of groundwater or surface water.

FEP audits vs. consent compliance

Compliance monitoring is a separate process from a FEP farm audit. Receiving a passing grade for your FEP does not automatically mean you are compliant with your consent conditions.

A Resource Management Officer (RMO) will monitor the FEP condition (which is just to ensure there is an FEP), but they do not monitor the content of the FEP audit. Compliance with consent conditions can only be determined by our RMOs.

Key differences:

  • An FEP is about managing the risk of your farming practices
  • Consent compliance is about meeting specific rules and conditions
FEP audits Consent compliance

Focus on environmental risk management

Required under regional planning rules for some farm types

May get an A-grade FEP, but still fail consent condition monitoring 

Focus on meeting legal conditions

Enforced by council RMOs

Consent condition monitoring is done independently of an FEP audit
 Need help? Look up your consent conditions using your consent number on our consent search tool.

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