Agriculture Shorts

Nebraska cattle on feed numbered 2.64 million head on April 1, down slightly from March. Placements into Nebraska feedlots in March were down 15% from the prior year while marketings were down 6% . . . Economist Greg Ibendahl estimates that American households have spent an additional $12-$14 billion on gasoline through mid-April since the start of the Iran Conflict. . . Per capita cheese consumption in the U.S. continues to average roughly 40–42 pounds annually, with nearly 1.05 billion pounds consumed in February. Disappearance in February rose 2.8% compared to last year, but was slower compared to the previous three months, all of which saw year-over-year increases of over 4% . . . Reuters reported several countries are increasing usage of biofuels in response to rising oil prices. Vietnam said it would switch fully to ethanol-blended gasoline ⁠earlier than planned. Indonesia said it will raise the mandatory blending rate for biodiesel made from palm oil to 50% from 40%. And Brazil is considering raising the ethanol blend rate from 30% to 32% . . . @FarmPolicy at the University of Illinois recently posted that according to the USDA ethanol exports are on pace to surpass last year’s record of 2.1 billion gallons.