There’s been a lot of talk about waiving the Renewable Fuels Standard for ethanol, especially since the USDA’s latest estimate shows the drought knocking down the projected corn crop 13 percent. Our friends from the Farm Foundation will be hosting a web conference, Thursday, August 16, 2012 at 10 a.m. CDT. Three Purdue University economists will take part in the free conference, which you can register for here.

Severe drought has reduced corn production and driven up the price of corn. Faced with significantly higher feed costs, livestock producers have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a partial waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standards, which mandates blending of ethanol in gasoline. Purdue University economists Wally Tyner, Farzad Taheripour and Christopher Hurt have completed an analysis of a potential waiver and what it could mean for the ethanol industry and the price of corn. Their findings will be presented at Thursday’s web conference.

“As was the case in 2008, when rhetoric in the food-versus-fuel debate rose with the prices of corn and oil, the drought and high temperatures of 2012 are pushing corn and soybean prices to record levels, and the food vs. fuel debate is once again heated,” says Farm Foundation, NFP President Neil Conklin. “Now, as then, Farm Foundation and Purdue University are not about fueling these fires. Our shared mission is to be a catalyst for sound public policy by providing objective information to foster deeper understanding of the complex issues before our food and agriculture system today.”

Farm Foundation officials say the Purdue economists’ current analysis builds on years of work, including a series of three Farm Foundation publications, “What’s Driving Food Prices,” published in July 2008, March 2009 and July 2011.