Protein Pulse Podcast

Drive Time

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Thursday Margin Monitor, October first. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: My late Ag Econ instructor at Oklahoma State, Dr. Bob Ortman — God rest his soul — drilled one word into us: scarcity. That’s the cattle market. Slaughter is down nearly eight percent. The herd hasn’t rebuilt. Scarcity is real. But it doesn’t exist in a vacuum. At some price, buyers adapt. Imports substitute for domestic lean. Chicken substitutes for beef. Pork competes for the plate. Grinders reformulate. Fresh nineties are four oh nine. Imported nineties are roughly a dollar cheaper. Chicken breast is around one twenty-one. Pork cutout is eighty-five cents. The cattle are still scarce. What’s changing is the value of the next scarce pound when the market has alternatives.

HOST: Wednesday cattle kill ninety-eight thousand. Year to date down seven point eight percent. Choice three eighty-three. Select three sixty-one. Fresh fifties eighty-one cents, and USDA called lean trimmings sharply lower. Hales’ eighty-one percent ground beef is still about seven percent above last year. Demand didn’t disappear. Grinders just have more options. Another one hundred thousand metric tons of other-countries lean quota opens today. Argentina’s next twenty thousand metric tons opens too. Brazil has exhausted its China beef quota. Above-quota shipments into China now face an extra fifty-five percent tariff.

SHAWN: Brazil doesn’t have to send those pounds here to matter. It only has to compete harder somewhere else. Chicken still has the pounds — breast down about twenty-nine percent year over year, and Hormel is buying Brakebush for about one point oh five five billion. Pork is eighty-five cents today, less than a quarter of Choice, but the pig crop is down two percent and farrowings down three. Cheap today doesn’t necessarily mean cheap tomorrow. December corn fell twenty-one and a quarter to five dollars even after USDA found more corn than the trade expected. Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel is still near four ninety-six.

HOST: Domestic lean is moving lower. Imported lean still carries the discount. Cheap fifties are improving the blend. The pressure to chase protein has eased. The burden is shifting toward proving why the next pound deserves a premium.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

Full

HOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast — your daily market update on all things protein. This is Thursday Margin Monitor for October 1, 2026, from The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: I never forgot something my Ag Econ 1114 instructor, the late Dr. Bob Ortman — God rest his soul — drilled into us at Oklahoma State. What is fundamental in economics? Scarcity. That’s exactly what has driven the cattle market. We don’t have enough cattle. Slaughter is down nearly 8 percent. The herd hasn’t rebuilt. Scarcity is real. But scarcity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. At some price, buyers adapt. Imports substitute for domestic lean. Chicken substitutes for beef. Pork competes for the plate. Grinders reformulate. Retailers change portions and packages. Fresh nineties are four oh nine while imported nineties are roughly a dollar cheaper. Chicken breast is around one twenty-one and the pork cutout is eighty-five cents. Now Brazil has effectively hit the wall in China just as additional U.S. quota opens. The cattle are still scarce. What’s changing is the value of the next scarce pound when the market has alternatives. Dr. Ortman would probably tell me that’s economics doing exactly what economics does.

HOST: Executive summary. Cattle slaughter is down seven point eight percent year to date, but fresh nineties have fallen to four oh nine. Imported lean remains sharply discounted to domestic product, while chicken and pork remain inexpensive alternatives. Brazil’s beef quota into China is exhausted, triggering an additional fifty-five percent tariff on above-quota shipments beginning today. At the same time, another one hundred thousand metric tons of U.S. other-countries quota capacity opens October first. Argentina’s separate fourth twenty-thousand-metric-ton tranche also opens today. USDA corn stocks surprised higher, sending December corn sharply lower, while diesel remains near five dollars a gallon.

SHAWN: The grind isn’t telling us Americans quit eating hamburgers. It’s telling us grinders don’t have to chase raw material the way they did this summer. USDA called lean boneless beef and trimmings sharply lower Wednesday. Fresh nineties averaged four oh nine on one hundred forty-four thousand seven hundred ninety-seven pounds of reported trade. Fresh fifties averaged eighty-one cents on four hundred seventy-four thousand five hundred ninety-seven pounds. Domestic fresh nineties were around four forty-nine only four weeks ago. Available ground-beef data don’t point to demand disappearing. Hales’ three-day average for eighty-one percent ground beef was approximately seven percent above last year, while year-to-date volume was nearly even with twenty twenty-five despite substantially lower fed-beef production. Imports, boneless inventories and cow supply are simply giving grinders more options.

HOST: Fewer cattle doesn’t mean fewer choices. Wednesday cattle slaughter totaled ninety-eight thousand head, bringing week-to-date slaughter to three hundred one thousand. Year to date, twenty point three oh three million head, down seven point eight percent. Choice closed at three eighty-three. Select at three sixty-one. The spread is twenty-two cents. USDA’s August cold-storage data put frozen beef stocks above four hundred seven million pounds, with boneless beef inventories higher than both July and last year. The U.S. can simultaneously have too few cattle and enough available beef to keep buyers from chasing price. Range and pasture conditions remain difficult, with fifty-one percent rated poor or very poor, versus thirty-five percent last year. The herd still needs rebuilding. Near-term beef availability doesn’t change that.

SHAWN: Chicken has what beef doesn’t: pounds. Boneless skinless breast meat is near one twenty-one, down roughly twenty-nine percent year over year. Wings are near five-year lows and dark meat has also weakened. Broiler egg sets were up three percent year over year, cumulative chick placements remain about two percent ahead of twenty twenty-five, and year-to-date chicken slaughter is one point four percent above last year. The pipeline is beginning to moderate. RaboResearch sees egg sets and chick placements running only about one percent above last year during the second half, compared with roughly four point one percent growth during the first half. That’s moderation, not contraction. There are still plenty of chicken pounds coming into a market where breast, wings and dark meat are already under pressure. USDA described wogs as steady with moderate demand and balanced-to-adequate floor stocks. Tenders were weaker, while wings and dark meat were generally steady. Consumers don’t have to stop eating beef for inexpensive chicken to affect beef demand. They only have to substitute one meal.

HOST: Hormel Foods has agreed to acquire Brakebush Brothers for approximately one point oh five five billion. Brakebush generates roughly one point two billion in annual sales across five production facilities and two R and D labs. Hormel isn’t buying live production. It’s buying value-added processing, foodservice relationships and product-development capability while commodity chicken values remain weak.

SHAWN: Cheap today doesn’t necessarily mean cheap tomorrow. The pork cutout fell another two eighty-two Wednesday to eighty-five cents. Loins were eighty-three cents. Bellies ninety-four cents. Picnics sixty-seven cents. Forty-twos sixty-four cents. Seventy-twos eighty-eight cents. Wednesday hog slaughter totaled four hundred eighty-six thousand head, with year-to-date slaughter only one percent below twenty twenty-five. For now, pork availability remains sufficient and values give buyers another inexpensive alternative to historically expensive beef. But the forward supply picture is tighter. The breeding herd stood at five point eight seven million head on September first, down one percent year over year, while the June-through-August pig crop fell two percent and sow farrowings declined three percent. That’s the pork disconnect: plenty of product today, but fewer animals underneath the longer-term supply pipeline. At eighty-five cents, the pork cutout is less than one-quarter the value of the Choice beef cutout. That doesn’t mean consumers substitute pound for pound, but it gives retailers, foodservice operators and further processors a powerful reason to keep pork in the conversation.

HOST: Retail isn’t waiting for cheaper cattle. Creekstone Farms is expanding portion-cut capabilities as customers seek more consistent portions, lower in-store labor and greater operational efficiency. The company has also invested more than twenty million dollars in ground-beef expansion. When consumers resist the package price, the answer doesn’t always have to be cheaper beef. It can be a smaller steak, a different cut or more ground beef. High beef prices don’t just change what consumers buy. They change how the industry sells beef.

SHAWN: Brazil needs another home. Brazil has exhausted its one point one oh six million metric ton twenty twenty-six beef quota into China. Beginning today, beef above that quota faces an additional fifty-five percent tariff, on top of China’s normal twelve percent import tariff. China purchased roughly one point six eight million metric tons of Brazilian beef in twenty twenty-five, meaning the twenty twenty-six quota covers only about sixty-five percent of last year’s volume. At the same time, the United States today opens another one hundred thousand metric ton tranche of its temporary three hundred thousand metric ton additional tariff-rate quota for lean beef trimmings from other countries or areas. Argentina separately receives access to the fourth twenty thousand metric ton tranche of its additional eighty thousand metric ton twenty twenty-six allocation. That does not mean Brazilian beef automatically comes here. Brazil doesn’t have to send those pounds to the United States to matter. It only has to compete harder somewhere else. That pressure can move through global lean-beef values.

HOST: Procurement radar. Import advantage holds. Domestic fresh nineties at four oh nine remain roughly ninety cents to a dollar two above imported nineties. More quota opens. Another one hundred thousand metric tons of U.S. other-countries quota capacity opens today. Brazil pressure builds. Brazil has exhausted its China quota. Blend economics improve. Fresh fifties near eighty-one cents lower the fat side of the grind while imported lean remains discounted to domestic fresh nineties. Buyer leverage improves. Domestic nineties are well off summer highs. Current indications: U.S. fresh nineties four oh nine. South America nineties three oh seven to three twelve. Australia nineties three nineteen. Eighty-fives two ninety-eight to three oh four. Ninety-fives three twenty-five to three forty-nine.

SHAWN: Farm Bill authority expires. The extension of the twenty eighteen Farm Bill expired September thirtieth. New Conservation Reserve Program enrollment is paused without additional congressional action, although several major conservation programs have separate authority through fiscal twenty thirty-one.

HOST: USDA found more corn than expected. USDA reported two point oh nine five billion bushels of corn stocks on September first — one hundred seventy-one million bushels above the average trade estimate. December corn fell twenty-one and a quarter cents to five dollars even and three-quarters. June-through-August corn disappearance totaled three point two oh billion bushels versus three point oh nine billion last year. USDA found more corn than expected. It didn’t find collapsing demand. Soybean stocks totaled three hundred fifteen million bushels, while quarterly disappearance increased to seven hundred forty-four million bushels from six hundred eighty-three million last year.

SHAWN: October Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel ended September near four ninety-six a gallon, up approximately fifty-three percent during the third quarter, while U.S. distillate inventories remain more than thirteen percent below the five-year average.

HOST: Snapshot. Choice three eighty-three. Select three sixty-one. Spread twenty-two cents. Fresh nineties four oh nine. Fresh fifties eighty-one cents. Live steer, more than eighty percent Choice, two twenty-one. Pork cutout eighty-five cents. Loins eighty-three. Bellies ninety-four. Picnics sixty-seven. Forty-twos sixty-four. Seventy-twos eighty-eight. National negotiated hogs eighty cents. December live cattle two twenty-two seventy, up a dollar ninety. October feeder cattle three thirty-six forty-two, up two seventy-seven. October lean hogs seventy-eight seventy-two, down sixty-five cents. December corn five even and three-quarters, down twenty-one and a quarter. November soybeans twelve ninety-three, down four and three-quarters. November crude ninety forty-two, up a dollar four. Wednesday cattle slaughter ninety-eight thousand. Week to date three hundred one thousand. Year to date down seven point eight percent. Hogs Wednesday four hundred eighty-six thousand. Year to date down one percent. Chicken Wednesday thirty-five point one three eight million. Year to date up one point four percent.

SHAWN: Bottom line. Domestic lean is moving lower, imported lean still carries a substantial discount, and cheap fifties are improving grind economics. At the same time, additional U.S. quota opens just as Brazil has more reason to compete outside China. For buyers, the pressure to chase protein has eased. For sellers, the burden is shifting toward proving why the next pound deserves a premium. Stay disciplined.

HOST: That’s The Protein Pulse Thursday Margin Monitor for October 1, 2026. From Shawn Sparks and The Sparks Group. For sourcing, procurement, and market intelligence, visit TheSparks.Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

Drive Time

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Wednesday Watchlist, September thirtieth. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Tomorrow another one hundred thousand metric tons of lower-duty imported lean opens to the U.S. market. If you’re buying raw material for ground beef, pay attention. Imported lean isn’t a pound-for-pound replacement for fresh domestic nineties. Some processors can’t or won’t use it because of customer specs or perception. Others can, but only to a certain percentage before binding and blending become an issue. That’s not a knock on the product. I’ve been inside South American meat plants, and the quality and cleanliness are on par with what I’ve seen here. If you can use imported lean, maximize it and maximize the margin. If you can’t, you better figure out how — before your competition prices you out of the market.

HOST: Tuesday’s cattle kill one hundred eight thousand after Monday’s ninety-five thousand. Year-to-date still down seven point seven percent. Choice three eighty-three. Select three sixty-four. No new national nineties test. Fifties ninety-two cents, sharply higher. Weekly beef imports up thirty-three percent.

SHAWN: Hormel is buying Brakebush for about one point oh five five billion — a one point two billion value-added chicken business. Chicken has the supply, and large companies are putting more money behind it. Hog inventory down two percent. Cutout still down about sixteen percent since early June. Less supply isn’t fixing weak demand.

HOST: W T I dropped three twenty-two. U L S D jumped three percent to four ninety. Don’t price freight off the crude headline. Grain Stocks is today. The second lean tranche is tomorrow.

SHAWN: Domestic cattle remain tight. The raw-material equation is changing around them. The next move isn’t just about price — it’s about what your operation can actually use. Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

Protein Pulse - Wednesday Watchlist | September 30, 2026

Your Daily Market Update on All Things Protein

HOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast — your daily market update on all things protein. This is Wednesday Watchlist for September 30, 2026, from The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Tomorrow another one hundred thousand metric tons of lower-duty imported lean opens to the U.S. market. If you’re buying raw material for ground beef, pay attention. Imported lean isn’t a pound-for-pound replacement for fresh domestic nineties. Some processors can’t or won’t use it because of customer specifications or perception. Others can use it, but only to a certain percentage before binding and blending become an issue. And that’s not a knock on the product. I’ve been inside South American meat plants, and the quality and cleanliness are on par with what I’ve seen here in the U.S. If you can use imported lean, maximize it and maximize the margin. If you can’t, you better figure out how — before your competition prices you out of the market.

HOST: Beef: Tuesday slaughter recovered to one hundred eight thousand after Monday’s ninety-five thousand. Choice closed three eighty-three. Select three sixty-four. Year-to-date cattle slaughter remains seven point seven percent below last year. Chicken: Hormel announced this morning it will acquire Brakebush for about one point oh five five billion, adding a roughly one point two billion value-added chicken business heavily focused on foodservice. Pork: hog supplies are tightening, but demand remains the bigger issue. The cutout has lost roughly sixteen percent since early June despite lower slaughter. Diesel: W T I dropped three twenty-two Tuesday while U L S D jumped three percent. Protein freight isn’t following the crude headline.

SHAWN: Tuesday’s cattle kill rebounded to one hundred eight thousand, up from ninety-five thousand Monday and one hundred thousand the previous Tuesday. Week-to-date two hundred three thousand versus two hundred thirty-two thousand eight hundred forty-five last year. Year-to-date twenty point two oh five million, down seven point seven percent. Tuesday’s rebound is important after last week’s short kill. It suggests processing is beginning to normalize, but one day doesn’t replace the production lost last week.

HOST: Choice finished three eighty-three, up two eighteen cents. Select jumped six twenty-five cents to three sixty-four. The Choice-Select spread narrowed to eighteen cents. Sterling estimates feedlots at minus three thirty-five a head while packers are plus one fifty-one. Fed-beef plant utilization fell to seventy-four point six percent last week. Carcasses remain heavy at nine hundred fifty-two pounds. Choice-and-higher grading reached eighty-seven point three percent. Hales points to high-quality Angus and Angus-beef-dairy cross cattle replacing traditional dairy steers as one contributor. Those heavier, better-grading cattle are helping offset some of the pressure from fewer head.

SHAWN: Fresh fifties averaged ninety-two cents Tuesday on more than four hundred sixty-one thousand pounds. USDA called beef trimmings sharply higher with good demand and moderate offerings. No new national nineties or eighty-fives test was established. Tomorrow opens the second one-hundred-thousand-metric-ton tranche of additional lower-duty imported lean. Latest weekly U.S. beef imports totaled thirty-eight thousand eight hundred twenty-five metric tons, up thirty-two point nine percent year over year. Australia nine thousand five hundred thirty-nine. Brazil nine thousand one hundred ninety-five. Canada seven thousand three hundred fifty-six. Santa Teresa, Douglas, Columbus, and Nogales historically accounted for roughly eighty percent of U.S. cattle imports from Mexico. If reopening continues and those crossings ultimately return to full capacity, current estimates suggest Mexican cattle supplies could add the equivalent of more than four percent to fed-cattle slaughter by late second quarter twenty twenty-seven.

HOST: Hormel announced this morning it will acquire Brakebush Brothers for about one point oh five five billion, significantly expanding its position in value-added chicken and foodservice. Brakebush generated about one point two billion in sales over the last twelve months, operates five production facilities and two R and D labs, and supplies further-processed chicken to national and regional foodservice operators. Hormel specifically identified value-added chicken as an attractive growth category. They’re not alone. McDonald’s has set a goal of gaining one point five percentage points of chicken market share by twenty thirty while maintaining its leadership position in beef.

SHAWN: USDA called Tuesday’s chicken market about steady. Wogs were moderate. Breasts and tenders were steady. Wings were softer in some sizes. Dark meat was mixed. Year-to-date chicken slaughter remains one point four percent above last year. The Hormel deal is also a bet on what happens downstream. Brakebush takes chicken raw material and turns it into higher-value patties, nuggets, wings, and other foodservice products. Chicken has the supply — and some very large companies are putting more money behind the category.

HOST: U.S. hog inventory stood at seventy-four point three million head on September first, down two percent year over year. June-through-August pigs weaned were also down two percent. Less supply hasn’t translated into stronger pork. Daily Livestock Report estimates the cutout has fallen roughly eighteen dollars a hundredweight, or sixteen percent, since early June. Bellies, hams, and picnics accounted for about eighty-five percent of that decline. Frozen pork stocks were twelve percent above last year, with hams up twenty-six and loins up twenty-one. Bellies fell thirty-five percent from the previous month and were slightly below last year.

SHAWN: That’s what makes the belly market interesting. Daily Livestock Report estimates roughly sixty-five percent of bellies move through meals prepared away from home. Belly values have been one of the biggest contributors to the cutout’s decline even though cold-storage inventories aren’t showing a large year-over-year overhang. That points back toward demand and product mix, not simply too much pork sitting in the freezer. Sterling estimates producer margins at plus twenty-seven a head and packer margins at plus seven. Less supply isn’t fixing weak demand.

HOST: South America continues to matter more to the U.S. lean-beef equation. Paraguay shipped only about seventy-five metric tons of beef to the U.S. in twenty twenty-three, roughly twenty-eight thousand in twenty twenty-four, and forty-nine thousand four hundred fifty-six in twenty twenty-five. Through August twenty twenty-six, shipments had already reached thirty-five thousand four hundred forty-three metric tons. Much of the product moving into the U.S. is frozen lean destined for ground-beef applications. Brazil’s September fresh-frozen beef export pace increased about five percent from August, although it remained about thirty-two percent below September twenty twenty-five. Tomorrow’s second tranche adds another piece to a global lean market increasingly tied to U.S. ground-beef economics.

SHAWN: The U.S.-China Board of Trade is considering recommendations covering thirty billion dollars of non-sensitive trade on each side that could eventually receive more favorable tariff treatment. U S M E F sees potential for beef, pork, and variety meats to be included, with pork variety meats particularly important because China remains a major outlet. Nothing meat-specific has been finalized. For now, it’s an opening — not a deal.

HOST: Tuesday’s close. December corn five twenty-two, down a cent. November soybeans twelve ninety-eight, up nine and a half cents. Early Wednesday, December corn five twenty-four and a half. November soybeans thirteen oh six. USDA’s Grain Stocks and Small Grains reports are due today. Central Plains feedlot cost of gain is around a dollar twenty-five a pound. D T N reports anhydrous fertilizer about twenty-five percent above last year.

SHAWN: November W T I fell three twenty-two to eighty-nine thirty-eight Tuesday. October U L S D jumped three percent to four ninety a gallon. That disconnect is already showing up in delivered cost. In a recent Meatingplace reader survey, roughly two-thirds of respondents said transportation and logistics costs had increased at least ten percent over the previous six months, with nearly four in ten reporting increases above twenty percent. It’s a small reader survey, not an industry census, but it reinforces what buyers are already seeing: a lower crude headline doesn’t automatically mean cheaper freight. Don’t price freight off the crude headline.

HOST: Snapshot. Choice three eighty-three. Select three sixty-four. Last established nineties four eleven. Fifties ninety-two cents. Pork cutout eighty-eight cents. Bellies ninety-nine cents. Tuesday cattle slaughter one hundred eight thousand. Year-to-date cattle down seven point seven. Hogs down one percent. Chicken up one point four. October live cattle two seventeen twenty-two. November crude eighty-nine thirty-eight.

SHAWN: Bottom line. USDA gets the next word on feed today. Tomorrow the next one hundred thousand metric tons of lower-duty imported lean opens. Domestic cattle supplies remain tight, but the raw-material equation is changing around them. For protein buyers, the next move isn’t just about price — it’s about what your operation can actually use. Stay disciplined.

HOST: That’s The Protein Pulse Wednesday Watchlist for September 30, 2026. From Shawn Sparks and The Sparks Group. For sourcing, procurement, and market intelligence, visit TheSparks.Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

Protein Pulse Drive Time — Taco Meat Tuesday | September 29, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Taco Meat Tuesday, September twenty-ninth. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: The number that caught my attention wasn’t four hundred eighty-four thousand. It was four eleven. Cattle slaughter fell last week, and fresh nineties still moved lower. USDA is calling lean boneless sharply lower on light demand — even after one of the smallest cattle kills we’ve seen this year. Tight supply only matters to price when somebody needs the pounds.

HOST: Last week’s cattle slaughter four hundred eighty-four thousand, down from five hundred twenty-nine thousand. Monday’s kill ninety-five thousand. Fresh nineties four eleven. Eighty-fives three thirty-two. Fifties eighty-seven cents. Choice three eighty. Select three fifty-eight. Hales packer margins one thirty to one sixty — sixth positive week. August placements still down nine point two percent. The herd is tight. Lean still didn’t chase.

SHAWN: South American nineties about three oh seven to three twelve F O B East Coast. Australian-New Zealand three thirty-five to three forty. Domestic fresh nineties four eleven. That’s roughly a dollar of starting gap. F O B port isn’t delivered plant. Freight, diesel, storage, and timing still have to be run to the dock. Imports through September nineteenth were up seventeen percent. Boneless beef stocks ended August up six percent. USDA also called demand light Monday.

HOST: Pork herd is one point five percent smaller. Record eleven point nine six pigs per litter. Cutout eighty-eight cents. Freezer pork up twelve percent. Hams up twenty-six. August wholesale pork demand was reported seventeen percent below last year. Fewer hogs. More pounds in the freezer. Chicken production still ahead year-to-date. Frozen chicken inventories down five percent. H P A I is back on the northern migration path. The second lean-beef tranche opens October first.

SHAWN: Don’t pay a shortage price for a product that isn’t short. Run the blend. Run imported lean all the way to the dock. Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

HOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast — your daily market update on all things protein. This is Taco Meat Tuesday for September 29, 2026, from The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: The number that caught my attention wasn’t four hundred eighty-four thousand. It was four eleven eighty-eight. Cattle slaughter fell to four hundred eighty-four thousand head last week, and fresh nineties still moved lower. That tells me this isn’t just a supply story. We watched fifties start breaking after Labor Day. Now nineties are following, and USDA is calling lean boneless sharply lower on light demand — even after one of the smallest cattle kills we’ve seen this year. Imports matter. Boneless beef stocks matter. But so does what buyers are willing to pay. That’s what matters going into Q four. We can have historically tight cattle supplies and still have a grind market that doesn’t need to chase product. Tight supply only matters to price when somebody needs the pounds.

HOST: Beef gave us the biggest signal Monday: lean moved lower despite sharply reduced slaughter. Pork has fewer hogs but larger freezer inventories. Chicken remains steady, although HPAI is back on the radar. Feed futures moved lower, while imports and freight continue to change delivered protein economics.

SHAWN: USDA put last week’s cattle slaughter at four hundred eighty-four thousand, down from five hundred twenty-nine thousand the prior week. Monday’s kill was only ninety-five thousand, compared with one hundred five thousand the prior Monday. Despite the reduced production, USDA called lean boneless and eighty-five percent trimmings mostly sharply lower Monday. Beef trimmings were also sharply lower on light demand and moderate offerings. Fresh nineties averaged four eleven eighty-eight. Eighty-fives three thirty-one seventy-six. Sixty-fives a dollar fifty-five ninety-seven. Fifties eighty-seven fifty-three cents.

HOST: Boxed beef went the other direction. Choice three eighty-oh forty-eight, up a cent sixty-five. Select three fifty-eight twenty-three, up two forty-seven cents. Spread twenty-two twenty-five cents. Hales estimated packer margins last week around one thirty to one sixty a head — sixth consecutive positive week. Recent cattle-price movement and firm boxed beef have improved the packer equation considerably from earlier this year. Longer term, cattle remain tight. August feedlot placements fell nine point two percent from last year. Cow slaughter remains historically low. Heifer slaughter is running below last year. Those constraints haven’t disappeared. They just aren’t the only thing setting today’s beef price.

SHAWN: Imported lean remains an important alternative for U.S. grinders. South American nineties have recently been indicated around three oh seven to three twelve F O B U.S. East Coast. Australian-New Zealand nineties closer to three thirty-five to three forty. Domestic fresh nineties Monday averaged four eleven eighty-eight. That’s roughly a dollar a pound F O B starting gap between South American lean and domestic fresh nineties. But F O B port isn’t delivered plant. Freight matters. Diesel matters. Storage and timing matter. The economics need to be run all the way to the receiving dock.

HOST: Beef trimming imports through September nineteenth totaled seven hundred twenty-four thousand seven hundred twenty-one metric tons, up seventeen point two percent from last year and roughly forty percent from twenty twenty-four. Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand represented more than seventy percent of the total. Boneless beef stocks ended August at three hundred sixty-nine point nine million pounds, up six percent from last year. Total beef stocks were up five percent, although still about three percent below the five-year average. Imports and inventories give buyers options. USDA also called demand light Monday. Don’t confuse more available supply with the whole explanation.

SHAWN: Pork. The September Hogs and Pigs report showed a smaller herd, but productivity continues doing a lot of the work. Total hog inventory one point five percent below last year. Market hogs down one point six. September-November farrowing intentions also below last year. Summer pigs per litter reached a record eleven point nine six, up one point two percent. USDA still projects slightly higher pork production despite fewer animals. Monday’s pork cutout eighty-seven eighty cents. Total pork stocks four hundred thirty-six point three million pounds, up twelve percent from last year. Hams up twenty-six percent. Bellies slightly below last year and down sharply from July. Wholesale pork demand in August was reported seventeen point three percent below August twenty twenty-five, helping explain why fewer hogs haven’t translated into stronger hog values. The hog herd is smaller. Available pork pounds aren’t telling the same story yet.

HOST: USDA described chicken as about steady Monday. W O G supplies light but adequate. Breast meat and tenders steady. Wings showed some pressure. Dark meat mixed. Frozen chicken inventories ended August at seven hundred forty-nine point nine million pounds, down five percent from last year, while production remains ahead of last year year-to-date — up two point three percent. The forward risk is HPAI. September detections are showing up across parts of the northern U.S. as fall migration gets underway. China also continues to restrict non-heat-treated poultry products tied to affected areas. There isn’t a chicken supply problem today. With less product in the freezer and HPAI back on the radar, availability and export eligibility are worth watching.

SHAWN: December corn five twenty-three, down five and a quarter cents. November soybeans twelve eighty-eight and a quarter, down thirty and three-quarters. October meal three sixty-one seventy, down twelve twenty. National harvest progress remains near the five-year average, although fieldwork has slowed in parts of the western Midwest. The board got cheaper Monday. That doesn’t mean every feed buyer’s cash price moved with it. November crude ninety-two sixty, up nineteen cents. For protein buyers, diesel matters more than Monday’s move in crude. Refrigerated freight can quickly erase part of an attractive F O B protein spread.

HOST: The temporary additional beef quota moves into its second tranche Thursday. The program adds three hundred thousand metric tons of lean beef trimmings to the twenty twenty-six in-quota quantity. The first one-hundred-thousand-ton tranche closes September thirtieth. The second opens October first. For grinders, that creates additional lower-duty access to imported lean. Actual arrivals, price, and delivered cost matter more than the headline quota number. The current U.S.-China framework includes the possibility of more favorable tariff treatment for certain agricultural products. That is not implemented tariff relief or a physical purchase. For poultry, animal-health eligibility remains a separate hurdle. China can lower the tariff. HPAI can still keep the box out. USDA’s S P U R application deadline is Wednesday, September thirtieth. The five-hundred-million-dollar program provides temporary support to qualifying small, independent, and mid-sized U.S.-owned beef slaughter facilities.

SHAWN: Radar. Fresh nineties are down to four eleven eighty-eight despite last week’s four hundred eighty-four thousand-head kill. USDA is reporting light demand. Imports and boneless inventories give buyers additional options. Don’t assume a small kill automatically means higher lean. Fresh fifties at eighty-seven fifty-three cents are back below ninety cents. The break since Labor Day has materially changed blend economics. Buyers with formulation flexibility should be running the numbers, but don’t assume we’ve found the bottom. South American F O B-port indications are roughly a dollar below Monday’s domestic fresh nineties. The starting spread is real. The delivered spread is what matters. Diesel volatility can quickly change delivered economics, particularly on imports and long-haul domestic loads. Futures moved lower, but harvest delays can keep nearby physical feed from following the board at the same speed.

HOST: Snapshot. Choice three eighty. Select three fifty-eight. Fresh nineties four twelve. Fifties eighty-seven cents. Pork cutout eighty-eight cents. Monday cattle slaughter ninety-five thousand. Last week four hundred eighty-four thousand. Cattle slaughter year-to-date down seven point seven. Hogs year-to-date down one percent. Chicken production year-to-date up two point three. October live cattle two seventeen forty-five. December corn five twenty-three. November crude ninety-two sixty.

SHAWN: Bottom line. The cheapest protein on paper isn’t always the cheapest protein delivered, and the tightest animal supply doesn’t always produce the tightest product market. For buyers, run the blend, run imported lean all the way to the dock, and don’t assume lower feed futures mean your cash cost moved the same way. Don’t pay a shortage price for a product that isn’t short. Stay disciplined.

HOST: That’s The Protein Pulse Taco Meat Tuesday for September 29, 2026. From Shawn Sparks and The Sparks Group. For sourcing, procurement, and market intelligence, visit TheSparks.Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Monday Market Open, September twenty-eighth. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Here is the irony in beef this morning. We are finally reopening another valve for cattle supply just as a new operational risk is showing up at the packing plant. Santa Teresa is open again. Four hundred eight head on day one is not enough to change the market. Stepped-up federal immigration enforcement is disrupting labor and cattle movement across parts of the Southern Plains. Two days do not make a trend. In a cattle market already short on headcount, it does not take much operational disruption to matter.

HOST: Hales estimates heifer slaughter at one hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred — the lowest non-holiday week since May twenty twenty. Year-to-date heifer slaughter eight hundred eleven thousand below last year. Steers down five hundred fifty-two thousand. Weekly cattle slaughter four hundred eighty-four thousand, down thirteen point four percent year over year.

SHAWN: Packer calculated margins plus one sixty to plus one eighty-five — sixth straight positive week. Fresh nineties four ten. Fifties eighty-eight cents. Cheap fat does not make lean cheap. D H S said ice was not conducting worksite operations in Kansas. The response cited by the Texas Tribune did not address Texas or Oklahoma. Cattle availability and cattle actually getting through the plant are two different things. Watch the females, the border, and the plant. Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

HOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast — your daily market update on all things protein. This is Monday Market Open for September 28, 2026, from The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Here is the irony in beef this morning: we are finally reopening another valve for cattle supply just as a new operational risk is showing up at the packing plant. Santa Teresa is open again. That should eventually help feeder availability, but four hundred eight head on day one is not enough to change the market. At the same time, stepped-up federal immigration enforcement is disrupting labor and cattle movement across parts of the Southern Plains. Whether you support the policy or not, delayed cattle and reduced plant staffing can mean fewer kills, fewer boxes, and higher cost per head. Two days do not make a trend. But in a cattle market already running short on headcount, it does not take much operational disruption to matter.

HOST: The most interesting beef number this morning may not be total slaughter. Hales Trading estimates heifer slaughter at one hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred head — the lowest non-holiday weekly total since May ninth, twenty twenty. Since the beginning of the year, Hales estimates heifer slaughter is eight hundred eleven thousand head below last year, compared with steer slaughter down five hundred fifty-two thousand. That does not prove the herd rebuild is fully underway. After months of talking about what eventually has to happen, fewer females are actually entering slaughter.

SHAWN: Hales believes some beef heifers are already being retained and says retention could accelerate in twenty twenty-seven if winter and spring moisture supports grass. Weekly cattle slaughter fell to four hundred eighty-four thousand, down eight point five percent on the week and thirteen point four year over year. Beef production fell to four hundred thirty point one million pounds, down eight point four on the week and twelve point five year over year. Year-to-date cattle slaughter twenty million, down seven point seven. Year-to-date beef production seventeen point eight five one billion pounds, down five point three.

HOST: The grind. Weekly processing-beef averages. Fresh nineties four ten ninety-three, up two fifty-three cents on the week. Eighty-fives three sixteen sixty-four, down twelve oh three cents. Fifties eighty-seven seventy-seven cents, down a cent nineteen. The ninety-fifty spread is three twenty-three sixteen a pound. Cheap fat does not make lean cheap. Monday’s formulated-sales report: fourteen point four six million pounds of formulated fresh fifty percent trim at eighty-eight eighty-five cents.

SHAWN: Lower kills did not hurt packer economics last week. Hales estimates calculated margins at plus one sixty to plus one eighty-five a head, roughly forty dollars stronger on the week and the sixth consecutive week of positive calculated packer margins. Hales’ weekly Choice average was three seventy-seven fifty, up three twenty-four from the previous week. Fewer cattle through the plant can tighten beef availability. If boxed-beef values strengthen faster than cattle costs, packers can still improve margins on lower throughput.

HOST: Santa Teresa is moving Mexican cattle again. Four hundred eight head on the first day is not enough volume to materially change feeder availability. The reopening matters. The volume matters more. The Texas Cattle Feeders Association, Kansas Livestock Association, and Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association reported workforce disruption and delays moving thousands of cattle to processors amid federal immigration enforcement. D H S said ice was not conducting worksite operations in Kansas. The response cited by the Texas Tribune did not address Texas or Oklahoma. For the market, the consequence is physical: fewer cattle through the plant can mean fewer boxes, disrupted fabrication schedules, and fixed costs spread across fewer head. Cattle held back can also accumulate additional feed, yardage, and logistics expense.

SHAWN: Chicken continues to provide volume. The USDA whole-bird composite averaged a dollar sixteen forty-five, down thirty-six hundredths of a cent on the week. Parts were mixed. Boneless thighs strengthened. Tenderloins, leg quarters, and wings softened. W O Gs generally steady, light supplies, adequate floor stocks. Year-to-date chicken slaughter seven point one oh three billion, up one point one percent. Mexico continues to report no active H P A I outbreaks in commercial poultry, although H five N one and H seven N three detections remain present in wild birds.

HOST: Pork has a different setup. Weekly cutout eighty-seven thirty-one cents, down thirty-two hundredths. Loins, butts, picnics, and ribs declined. Hams and bellies strengthened. Forward supply is beginning to look tighter. Total hog numbers down about one point five percent year over year. Breeding herd roughly one percent lower. June through August farrowings down two point seven. Pig crop down one point five. At the same time, last week’s hog slaughter reached two point five five two million, up two point seven on the week and eight-tenths year over year. Pork production five hundred forty-two point nine million pounds, up three percent on the week and one-tenth year over year. Supply may become more supportive. Demand still has to show up.

SHAWN: Soybeans are the immediate feed-market story Monday morning. The Q T Wright overnight note: corn down five cents, soybeans down twenty-three, wheat down six. China’s tariff-reduction list covers a broad range of U.S. agricultural goods, including corn, wheat, sorghum, meat, dairy, soy oil, and soymeal. Whole soybeans were excluded and remain subject to an additional ten percent tariff. USDA continues to support additional small and regional beef-processing capacity. The Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers program provides five hundred million dollars in temporary support for qualifying small, independent, and mid-sized federally inspected beef slaughter facilities. That can preserve regional slaughter options. It does not replace the throughput of the major fed-beef plants. Diesel at the six fifty-one a gallon national average cited in the pipeline material means cattle hauling and refrigerated freight are absorbing additional cost before product reaches the customer.

HOST: The protein boom is moving beyond nutrition claims and into product design. The New York Times reported thirty-seven thousand two hundred thirty-two products carrying front-of-package protein claims and roughly ninety billion dollars in consumer spending on protein-positioned products over the last year. Cargill’s burger research: fifty-one percent want a burger that is both juicy and fresh. Forty-eight percent cited taste as their primary reason for ordering a burger. Forty percent said high-quality beef influences the decision. Cargill’s sensory work found the leaner patty was generally perceived as drier and less flavorful, while the fattier patty delivered greater juiciness and flavor. That matters with nineties above four ten and fifties below ninety cents. The lowest-cost blend on paper is not always the blend the consumer wants to eat.

SHAWN: Snapshot. Friday Choice three seventy-eight eighty-three, up two seventy-one cents. Select three fifty-five seventy-six, up three sixty-six. Spread twenty-three oh seven cents. Fresh nineties four ten. Fifties eighty-eight cents. Pork cutout eighty-seven cents. Whole chicken a dollar sixteen. October live cattle two eighteen eighty-seven, down twenty cents. October feeders three thirty-four ninety-two, up three seventeen. October lean hogs seventy-eight twenty-two. December corn five twenty-eight and a quarter. November soybeans thirteen nineteen. November crude ninety-two forty-one, down two twenty.

HOST: Bottom line.

SHAWN: The most important new beef signal is not simply that slaughter was light. Heifer slaughter is giving us tangible evidence to watch for retention, while packers are profitable enough to withstand lower throughput. Mexican cattle are beginning to move again, and the labor disruption is reminding the market that cattle availability and cattle actually getting through the plant are two different things. Pork has a tighter forward supply setup but still needs demand. Chicken continues to provide volume. For beef buyers, watch the females, the border, and the plant. Those three flows may tell us more about where supply is headed than another week of headline cattle prices. Stay disciplined.

HOST: That’s The Protein Pulse Monday Market Open for September 28, 2026. From Shawn Sparks and The Sparks Group. For sourcing, procurement, and market intelligence, visit TheSparks.Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Closing Bell Friday, September twenty-fifth. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Kansas and the Hogs and Pigs report tell two different stories. National Beef adjusted shifts in Liberal. Cattle shipments have been delayed. That can become a problem for next week’s production schedule, regardless of where the cutout closed. USDA reported a smaller pig crop despite record productivity. Those missing pigs won’t be there when they would ordinarily reach market. A softer market doesn’t guarantee a full truck.

HOST: Thursday cattle slaughter ninety thousand versus one hundred seven thousand the previous Thursday. Year-to-date down seven point seven percent. USDA does not establish how much of Thursday’s drop is immigration enforcement. Santa Teresa reopened Thursday. That helps feeder supply. It does not replace finished cattle this week.

SHAWN: Herd seventy-four point three million, down one point five. Breeding herd smallest September since twenty thirteen. Record eleven point nine six pigs per litter. Summer pig crop still smaller. Fresh nineties three ninety-nine. Imported nineties around three nineteen C I F East Coast. About eighty cents between references — not a confirmed delivered saving. Confirm next week’s beef loads. Check pork coverage against the weeks you actually need product. Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.

HOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast — your daily market update on all things protein. This is Closing Bell Friday for September 25, 2026, from The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Kansas and the Hogs and Pigs report tell two different stories, but both matter if you’re buying protein for the fourth quarter. National Beef adjusted shifts in Liberal, cattle shipments have been delayed, and buyers are dealing with uncertainty over beef deliveries. That can become a problem for next week’s production schedule, regardless of where the cutout closed. On the pork side, USDA reported a smaller pig crop despite record productivity. It doesn’t mean we’re short of pork today, but those missing pigs won’t be available when they would ordinarily reach market. With holiday production, transportation, and year-end inventories ahead, I’d be confirming beef deliveries and checking pork coverage against the weeks I actually need product. A softer price is useful, but only if the product is there when the plant needs it. A softer market doesn’t guarantee a full truck.

HOST: Southwest Kansas processing disruptions are affecting cattle movement and beef shipment reliability. Santa Teresa reopened Thursday, restoring an important Mexican cattle supply channel. USDA’s September Hogs and Pigs report showed fewer breeding animals and a smaller pig crop despite record productivity. Imported lean remains an important alternative for ground beef manufacturers as domestic lean supplies remain constrained.

SHAWN: National Beef adjusted shift starting times at its Liberal, Kansas, facility on September twenty-third amid increased federal immigration enforcement across southwest Kansas. The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, and Texas Cattle Feeders Association subsequently reported thousands of delayed fed-cattle shipments and millions of dollars in associated losses and additional costs. USDA estimated Thursday’s cattle slaughter at ninety thousand, versus one hundred seven thousand the previous Thursday. Week-to-date three hundred eighty-nine thousand, down from four hundred twenty thousand the preceding week. Year-to-date nineteen point nine one million, down seven point seven percent. The longer-term slaughter contraction predates this week’s disruption. USDA’s national figures do not establish how much of Thursday’s decline resulted specifically from immigration enforcement.

HOST: Heavy carcasses continue providing additional pounds. Steer carcass weights averaged nine hundred seventy-seven pounds for the week ending September twelfth, up eighteen pounds year over year. Thursday’s wholesale market finished lower. Choice three seventy-six. Select three fifty-two. For buyers, the near-term issue is delivery reliability. A lower cutout provides little relief when a committed shipment cannot reach the production line.

SHAWN: Santa Teresa reopened September twenty-fourth following restrictions associated with New World screwworm. That restores an important feeder-cattle supply channel under enhanced inspection and animal-health protocols. Santa Teresa helps replenish cattle entering the U.S. production system. It does not immediately replace finished cattle or resolve this week’s Kansas processing interruptions.

HOST: Dairy cows have accounted for about fifty-seven percent of U.S. cow slaughter in twenty twenty-six, according to Len Steiner’s September twenty-fourth Daily Livestock Report. The dairy herd reached nine point seven one million head in August, its highest level since nineteen ninety-two. Additional dairy culls have helped supply domestic manufacturing beef while beef-cow slaughter remains constrained. Dairy herd expansion is slowing, making imported lean particularly relevant to ground beef manufacturers.

SHAWN: USDA counted seventy-four point three oh two million hogs and pigs on September first, about one point five percent below last year. The breeding herd declined to five point eight seven five million — its smallest September inventory since twenty thirteen, according to economist Lee Schulz. The June–August pig crop declined to thirty-four point five oh eight million, despite producers saving a record eleven point nine six pigs per litter. Fewer sows farrowing outweighed the productivity improvement. Schulz projected modest average profitability for twenty twenty-six and losses under his twenty twenty-seven futures assumptions. Purdue’s Michael Langemeier estimated swine finishing feed costs could increase about nine point seven percent in twenty twenty-seven using early-September futures. The smaller pig crop is a forward supply consideration. It does not establish an immediate shortage of holiday pork.

HOST: Pork export sales increased seventeen percent to thirty-five thousand three hundred metric tons for the week ending September seventeenth. Physical shipments rose sixteen percent to thirty-two thousand one hundred. Mexico led with fifteen thousand eight hundred metric tons, then China at six thousand nine hundred. Thursday’s pork cutout declined to eighty-six cents, with bellies losing three thirty-three cents. National negotiated hogs finished near seventy-nine cents. The Hogs and Pigs report was released after Thursday’s session. Those prices are the completed market preceding the report, not the market’s reaction to it.

SHAWN: Chicken. USDA reported one hundred sixty-eight point oh one three million chickens slaughtered in the week ending September nineteenth, down four percent from the comparable twenty twenty-five week. Ready-to-cook production declined six percent. Year-to-date production remained one point four percent above last year, at about thirty-two point one six billion pounds. Component prices continue to diverge. Boneless skinless thighs around a dollar fifty-four, up thirty-four cents over the preceding week. Jumbo breasts near a dollar twenty-one. Wings around a dollar. USDA described the broader chicken market as generally steady. Two additional Minnesota HPAI detections affected commercial meat turkey flocks totaling fifty-one thousand five hundred birds. A resulting reduction in national chicken production has not been established.

HOST: Thursday USDA: domestic fresh nineties three ninety-nine. Fifties ninety-one cents. Imported nineties indicated around three nineteen C I F East Coast. That’s about an eighty-cent difference between price references. It does not represent a confirmed delivered savings figure. Domestic fed cattle generate fatty trim. Ground beef manufacturers need lean to hit finished-product specs. Imported lean is another sourcing option when domestic cow and bull beef supplies are constrained. Nevil Speer in Beef Magazine cites Kansas State’s Brian Coffey describing imported lean trimmings as complementary to domestic beef supplies. Seasonal processing in Australia and New Zealand could add manufacturing beef. Renewed Asian demand may compete for that supply.

SHAWN: Weekly U.S. beef export sales declined thirty-four percent to nine thousand four hundred metric tons, while actual shipments increased twenty-two percent to twelve thousand one hundred. Pork export sales and shipments both improved. New sales and physical shipments measure different stages of export demand and should not be treated interchangeably.

HOST: The administration’s August proclamation increased the twenty twenty-six in-quota quantity for specified lean beef trimmings by three hundred thousand metric tons, in three tranches beginning September first. The proposed BEEF Act would suspend that additional authorization and establish a domestic beef supply advisory board. It has been introduced, not enacted. MICA reminded importers that Australia’s W T O quota and qualifying duty-free access under the Australia free-trade agreement are separate. Australia’s combined twenty twenty-six entitlement totals four hundred forty-nine thousand nine hundred nine metric tons. Filling Australia’s W T O quota alone does not automatically end qualifying free-trade access.

SHAWN: December corn five twenty-seven and a half, down a cent and a half. November soybeans thirteen seventeen and a half. October meal up five eighty to three seventy-six ten. November crude up two forty-five to ninety-four sixty-one. Lower corn prices did not translate into lower costs across every feed component. Elevated energy remains a consideration for livestock transportation and delivered protein costs.

HOST: Radar. Confirm next week’s beef allocations and delivery schedules where southwest Kansas disruptions may affect committed product. Reconcile fourth-quarter and early twenty twenty-seven pork requirements against actual production weeks. The smaller pig crop warrants attention without assuming an immediate shortage. Evaluate imported lean, domestic nineties, and available fatty trim together using comparable delivered costs and finished-product specifications.

SHAWN: Snapshot. Choice three seventy-six. Select three fifty-two. Fresh nineties three ninety-nine. Eighty-fives two seventy-six. Fifties ninety-one cents. Pork cutout eighty-six cents. Bellies eighty-seven cents, down three thirty-three. October live cattle two nineteen oh seven, down a dollar eighty-five. December corn five twenty-seven and a half. November crude ninety-four sixty-one. Thursday slaughter: cattle ninety thousand, down seven point seven year-to-date. Hogs four hundred eighty-nine thousand, down one percent. Chicken thirty-five point five million, up one point one.

HOST: Bottom line.

SHAWN: Kansas creates an immediate beef delivery concern. Santa Teresa restores a feeder-cattle supply channel on a different timeline. USDA’s smaller pig crop gives pork buyers a reason to review forward coverage against their actual production requirements. Before holiday production begins, know which beef loads are committed, which pork weeks still need coverage, and what your finished ground beef blend will cost. A softer market doesn’t guarantee a full truck. Stay disciplined.

HOST: That’s The Protein Pulse Closing Bell Friday for September 25, 2026. From Shawn Sparks and The Sparks Group. For sourcing, procurement, and market intelligence, visit TheSparks.Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.