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Last updated on Friday, August 24, 2012
(UNDATED) - The drought is expected to shrivel the US corn crop by about one-fourth. But EPA fuel rules could chew up another 40 percent.
Federal regulations require oil companies to blend more than 13-billion gallons of ethanol with gasoline. That translates to about five-billion bushels of corn.
The EPA has until October to waive that requirement.
Purdue agricultural economist Wally Tyner says there's no danger of a food shortage, but the drought is raising corn prices.
Corn has soared to more than eight dollars a bushel. Tyner says the price hike could boost supermarket prices by 3 or 4 percent.
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