US EPA to releases new guidelines on dioxin limits

The Environmental Protection Agency in the US are due to release new guidelines that will set limits on the safe exposure of  dioxins to the US consumers. The decision to produce new regulations has put the farmers and ranchers as well as the US food industry into a dilemma. The mere mention of dioxin conjures up visions of cancer and birth defects. Dioxin became a household word nearly 30 years ago when Times Beach, MO, was evacuated and quarantined due to high levels of dioxin. Many illnesses, miscarriages and animal deaths were attributed to the toxin. At the time, dioxin was called “the most toxic chemical synthesised by man". Read more ...

As the population grows, feeding the extra billions

By 2050 there is expected to be nine billion people on the planet, given the limited resources of the earth agriculture production will need to be doubled or even tripled in the next 40 years, if that's possible. "In the future we need to have to ensure that there is even greater productivity if we are to succeed in satisfying the rapidly growing demands of people for food. Land area is increasingly becoming a limiting factor for the increase in food production." said Harald von Witzke, professor of agricultural sciences at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Read more ...