The Latest: February - 2026
Another Dramatic Week on LaSalle
It was another dramatic week on LaSalle. Seemingly inspired by the Olympians in Milan-Cortina, the markets underwent their own fits of athletic prowess as they jumped, twirled, and in some cases tumbled. The market tone is unsettled as buyers and sellers are going head-to-head. By the conclusion of Friday’s spot session, every commodity sat at a lower price than a week prior. However, that simple conclusion belies the volatile activity that occurred over the course of the week.
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The feed markets tumbled once again this week and dairy producers can thank Brazilian farmers for the setback. Brazil lacks the infrastructure to hold this year’s bin-busting production. Brazilian soybeans outprice U.S. soy by such a wide margin, two ships with Brazilian soybeans will hit the U.S. Southeast coast this week.
View reportWith more cows in the barn, milk production climbed, but the increase was far from formidable. Our competitors overseas also reported modest growth.
View reportInk ran red on LaSalle Street this week, led by a precipitous decline in barrels. Blocks lost ground too, but their decline was not nearly so dramatic.
View reportOver the holiday shortened week, every commodity lost ground at the CME spot market. Price declines were not limited only to the United States, however. At Tuesday’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) event the GDT Index fell by 4.7%, weighed down by losses across every product except Cheddar cheese.
View reportLast Friday, the spot Cheddar block market closed at $2.10/lb., the highest price in over two months. This week, however, the trajectory shifted dramatically. It appears that fundamentals may have caught up with the Cheddar market and ushered in the decline.
View reportDespite significant challenges, milk production continues to grow in the United States. USDA published its monthly Milk Production report on Monday, indicating that national output rose to 17.675 million pounds in February.
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