Episodes

  • THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Taco Meat Tuesday | October 20th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Taco Meat Tuesday | October 20th, 2026
    20 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIMETaco Meat Tuesday | October 20th, 2026

    HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Taco Meat Tuesday, October 20th. From The Sparks Group.

    SHAWN: Here's what caught my attention Monday. Cattle cost more, processors ran more head, and Choice beef still lost ground. Select went the other direction. That's a difficult combination to manage. Packers have more product to sell, but higher cattle costs don't disappear because a customer refuses an offer. Pork is presenting a similar challenge. Bellies and hams weakened even with fewer hogs processed last week. In chicken, breasts and thighs are moving in opposite directions. The next change in buying leverage won't arrive evenly. It will show up in particular products, from particular suppliers, for particular delivery dates. I want to know who's holding the pounds, who's buying them, and how long each side can wait. That's where the next negotiation gets interesting.

    HOST: Choice closed at three seventy-one fifty-eight, down seventy-three cents. Select gained six eighty-six to three fifty-nine ninety-one. Fresh nineties at three ninety F-O-B plant. Imported frozen nineties at three thirteen C-I-F East Coast. Pork cutout at seventy-nine thirty-nine. Bellies at eighty-six ninety-three. Chicken breast at one seventeen. Thigh at one seventy-three.

    SHAWN: Brazil confirmed Newcastle disease in Santa Catarina turkeys. Mexico suspended poultry imports from Brazil. Kayem is recalling about one point five million pounds of ready-to-eat product. Two more screwworm cases in New Mexico. Stay disciplined.

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

    SHAWN: Stay disciplined.
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    2 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE Taco Meat Tuesday | October 20th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE Taco Meat Tuesday | October 20th, 2026
    20 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSETaco Meat Tuesday | October 20th, 2026Full Executive Briefing — Spoken ScriptHOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast, your daily market update on all things protein. This is Taco Meat Tuesday for October 20th, 2026, from The Sparks Group.SHAWN: Here's what caught my attention Monday. Cattle cost more, processors ran more head, and Choice beef still lost ground. Select went the other direction. That's a difficult combination to manage. Packers have more product to sell, but higher cattle costs don't disappear because a customer refuses an offer. Pork is presenting a similar challenge. Bellies and hams weakened even with fewer hogs processed last week. In chicken, breasts and thighs are moving in opposite directions. Overseas, suppliers are competing for customers in markets that don't necessarily want the same products. None of those developments means the entire protein market is getting cheaper. They tell me something more useful. The next change in buying leverage won't arrive evenly. It will show up in particular products, from particular suppliers, for particular delivery dates. I want to know who's holding the pounds, who's buying them, and how long each side can wait. That's where the next negotiation gets interesting.HOST: Brazil has confirmed Newcastle disease at a commercial turkey operation in Santa Catarina, triggering reported trade responses from important poultry customers. Separately, Reuters reports Chinese chicken exporters challenging established suppliers across several international markets. USDA FSIS announced a major Kayem ready-to-eat meat and poultry recall following a storage-temperature problem. New Mexico confirmed additional New World screwworm cases, keeping livestock surveillance and border-movement requirements in focus. In domestic markets, cash cattle prices strengthened while Choice boxed beef declined and Select advanced. Pork bellies and picnics weakened, and chicken breasts and thighs moved in opposite directions. U.S. pork export demand remains uneven by destination, while corn harvest progress trails historical levels.SHAWN: USDA's latest five-area negotiated live F-O-B steer average reached two twenty-four nineteen, up from two twenty fourteen the previous reporting week. Dressed delivered steers advanced to three fifty-two fifty-two from three forty-five sixty-six. Choice boxed beef declined seventy-three cents to three seventy-one fifty-eight. Select gained six eighty-six to three fifty-nine ninety-one. The Choice Select spread narrowed to eleven sixty-seven. Choice ribs remained at six seventy-three fifty-nine. Steiner Consulting's latest Daily Livestock Report described strong seasonal rib demand as holiday buyers accumulated inventory. Its report also described improved packer margins following difficult summer conditions. Estimated cattle slaughter increased to five hundred fifty-three thousand head for the week ended October 17th, compared with five hundred thirty-five thousand the preceding week. The additional volume comes against a backdrop of reduced industry processing capacity and continued constraints on cattle supplies. Manufacturing beef moved differently from the boxed-beef grade market. USDA's national fresh F-O-B plant averages put nineties at three ninety, down six seventy, and eighty-fives at three sixteen, up thirty-five. Fresh fifties averaged ninety and sixty-fives one fifty-two. Imported frozen lean remains a separate sourcing market. Platts' October 16th frozen nineties assessments were three thirteen C-I-F U.S. East Coast and three oh five F-C-A East Coast. Those port assessments differ in product condition and delivery basis from domestic fresh F-O-B plant quotations.HOST: Brazilian Agriculture Minister André de Paula confirmed a Newcastle disease outbreak at a commercial turkey farm in Santa Catarina. Authorities initiated containment measures and restrictions on bird movements around the affected operation. Reuters reported that Mexico suspended poultry imports from Brazil and that Brazilian industry association ABPA voluntarily halted exports to China pending clarification of trade requirements. The precise product and geographic scope of those measures remains subject to official destination-country documentation. The outbreak is an immediate export-access development for Brazil, a leading poultry supplier. The critical questions are whether restrictions remain localized, how quickly the outbreak is contained and when affected trade can resume. Separately, Reuters reported that Chinese poultry processors are increasing exports through competitive pricing and expanded processing capacity. An international trader described Chinese breast and leg-quarter offers ten to twenty percent below Brazilian alternatives in selected African markets. Chinese processors are also competing in European processed-poultry markets. The reported overseas quotations are not U.S. domestic chicken prices. Actual international order ...
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    11 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Monday Market Open | October 19th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Monday Market Open | October 19th, 2026
    19 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIMEMonday Market Open | October 19th, 2026

    HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Monday Market Open, October 19th. From The Sparks Group.

    SHAWN: It's always easier to paddle with the current than fight your way upstream. But take a look at these markets. We're not dealing with a lazy Sunday float down the river. We're in the middle of some raging rapids, and half the time you can't tell which direction the damn water is running. Everybody's got an opinion about where we're headed. The river doesn't care how smart you think you are, and being right on Monday doesn't mean a damn thing if you're broke by Friday. We can't control the current. But we sure as hell can control the decisions we make while we're in it. Make yours count this week.

    HOST: Cash cattle entered the weekend with Southern bids at two twenty-eight. Choice boxed beef closed at three seventy-two, down one sixty-seven. Select at three fifty-three. Fresh nineties at three ninety-seven F-O-B plant. South American frozen nineties near three oh five at the port. Pork cutout recovered three cents to eighty-one. Chicken breast at one seventeen. Thigh at one seventy-three.

    SHAWN: Two new screwworm cases in New Mexico put Columbus in question. No official reopening date. Don't count those cattle until it's confirmed. Ice Futures is planning competing livestock contracts for December 7th. The real test is liquidity, not the press release. Stay disciplined.

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

    SHAWN: Stay disciplined.
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    2 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE Monday Market Open | October 19th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE Monday Market Open | October 19th, 2026
    19 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSEMonday Market Open | October 19th, 2026Full Executive Briefing — Spoken ScriptHOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast, your daily market update on all things protein. This is Monday Market Open for October 19th, 2026, from The Sparks Group.SHAWN: It's always easier to paddle with the current than fight your way upstream. But take a look at these markets. We're not dealing with a lazy Sunday float down the river. We're in the middle of some raging rapids, and half the time you can't tell which direction the damn water is running. Everybody's got an opinion about where we're headed. Trouble is, the cattle market, the meat counter and the consumer's wallet aren't exactly reading from the same map. So who's going to get smashed against the rocks? Producers? Packers? Consumers? Maybe everybody gets a little wet before this thing settles down. The river doesn't care how smart you think you are, and being right on Monday doesn't mean a damn thing if you're broke by Friday. We can't control the current. But we sure as hell can control the decisions we make while we're in it. Make yours count this week.HOST: Cash cattle strengthened heading into the weekend while Choice boxed beef declined, widening the disconnect between livestock procurement costs and wholesale beef returns. USDA's October outlook identified another important distinction. Domestic cow slaughter remains historically low, yet imported lean beef continues to pressure domestic processing-beef prices. Cattle scarcity is not producing uniform strength throughout the beef complex. The week's most consequential developing supply story is New World screwworm. Two additional cases confirmed in southwestern New Mexico have intensified uncertainty around Columbus, the next anticipated Mexican cattle crossing. No reopening date or official postponement has been confirmed, but the implications for future cattle availability deserve immediate attention. Elsewhere, Friday's pork cutout recovered without resolving weakness in export-sensitive primals. Chicken production continues expanding while individual cuts face different supply conditions. Ice Futures U.S. also announced plans for competing livestock futures contracts, subject to regulatory review. This week opens with several markets sending conflicting signals. Understanding which developments represent actual supply changes, and which are simply price movements, will be essential.SHAWN: The cash-cattle market entered the weekend with Southern packer bids reported at two twenty-eight and feedlot asking prices around two thirty. The Ag Center reported renewed Saturday bids after limited Friday sales. Northern live cattle traded mainly around two twenty-six to two twenty-seven, with dressed transactions reported at three fifty to three fifty-five. Meanwhile, USDA's October 16th afternoon report placed Choice boxed beef at three seventy-two, down one sixty-seven on the day. Select gained forty-three cents to three fifty-three, leaving the Choice Select spread at nineteen cents. That divergence matters for packer economics. Higher cattle acquisition costs are not being accompanied by equivalent gains in finished-beef values. If the relationship persists, it puts additional pressure on processing margins and raises questions about the sustainability of aggressive cattle bids. For downstream buyers, the important distinction is that strong cash cattle does not automatically justify higher offers across every boxed-beef cut. Individual cut demand still determines where pricing power exists. USDA's October 16th Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook identified a development that challenges the conventional domestic cattle-supply narrative. Federally inspected cow slaughter during January through September was near its lowest level since 1950, with only 2005 lower. Yet domestic cull-cow and nineties prices have weakened as lower-priced imported lean beef competes in the processing market. USDA reported August beef imports of five hundred twenty million pounds, up twenty-six percent year over year. Friday's national fresh F-O-B plant averages placed nineties at three ninety-seven, eighty-fives at two eighty-two and fifties at eighty-seven. The commercial significance is not that domestic cattle supplies have suddenly become abundant. They have not. It is that international beef availability is influencing specific U.S. wholesale markets even as domestic cattle numbers remain constrained. Platts' October 15th market correspondence reported South American frozen nineties indications near three oh five at the U.S. port of entry, while Australian and New Zealand C-I-F East Coast indications were near three thirteen. Those values have different delivery terms and are not directly interchangeable with domestic fresh F-O-B plant quotations. Cattle procurement, boxed-beef merchandising and processing-beef sourcing are facing different pressures. That separation deserves attention as packers enter ...
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    13 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Closing Bell Friday | October 16th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Closing Bell Friday | October 16th, 2026
    16 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIMEClosing Bell Friday | October 16th, 2026

    HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Closing Bell Friday, October 16th. From The Sparks Group.

    SHAWN: Friday is when the market starts collecting on Monday's promises. Everybody arrives with an opinion. The cattleman knows what his animals are worth. The packer knows what they cost. The salesman knows what he needs for the beef, and the customer knows what he's willing to pay. Two people can look at the same load of meat and see two entirely different markets. By Friday, I don't care who sounded smartest on Monday. I want to know who recognized what was changing while there was still time to act. The fellow who saw it coming usually doesn't need nearly as many words.

    HOST: December live cattle settled at two twenty-seven twenty-five, up two twelve. Choice fell two fifty-two to three seventy-three ninety-eight. Select lost five eighty-five to three fifty-two sixty-two. Imported frozen nineties were assessed at three thirteen C-I-F East Coast. Domestic fresh eighty-fives averaged three sixteen. Different product. Not a direct comparison. Pork cutout lost one ninety to seventy-seven fifty-five. Ribs fell thirteen eighty-nine. Hog base rose two fifty-six to seventy-one seventy.

    SHAWN: China is showing up with chicken at somebody else's table. Buyers with qualified international suppliers should be asking for fresh offers. December corn settled at four seventy-eight. Meal at three fifty-nine eighty. Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel futures fell eight cents to four eighty-five. A supplier doesn't have to be wrong about its costs for a buyer to be right about the price. Stay disciplined.

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

    SHAWN: Stay disciplined.
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    2 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE Closing Bell Friday | October 16th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE Closing Bell Friday | October 16th, 2026
    16 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSEClosing Bell Friday | October 16th, 2026Full Executive Briefing — Spoken ScriptHOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast, your daily market update on all things protein. This is Closing Bell Friday for October 16th, 2026, from The Sparks Group.SHAWN: Friday is when the market starts collecting on Monday's promises. Everybody arrives with an opinion. The cattleman knows what his animals are worth. The packer knows what they cost. The salesman knows what he needs for the beef, and the customer knows what he's willing to pay. Every one of them can have a perfectly reasonable argument. That's this business. Two people can look at the same load of meat and see two entirely different markets. And I've never been impressed by somebody winning an argument over price while losing money on the transaction. By Friday, I don't care who sounded smartest on Monday. I want to know who recognized what was changing while there was still time to act. Somebody will always have a good explanation for what happened. The fellow who saw it coming usually doesn't need nearly as many words.HOST: Livestock costs and finished-meat values parted ways Thursday. Cattle futures advanced while Choice and Select boxed beef declined. Hog futures and negotiated hog prices strengthened as the pork cutout weakened. Those are different benchmarks, not a packing-margin calculation, but they expose the limits of passing costs along. The opportunity is specific. Grade-sensitive beef negotiations, weakening pork primals and new competition among global chicken exporters. Grain futures also declined despite soybean export commitments. Meanwhile, September's diesel-fuel producer price index rose twenty-one percent, a reminder that cheaper ingredients don't necessarily mean cheaper delivered protein.SHAWN: The cattle shortage hasn't disappeared. The beef customer's willingness to pay is another matter. December live cattle futures settled Thursday at two twenty-seven twenty-five, up two twelve. November feeders gained three fifty to three forty-one ninety-five. Meanwhile, Choice boxed beef fell two fifty-two to three seventy-three ninety-eight. Select lost five eighty-five to three fifty-two sixty-two. Futures aren't cash cattle purchases, and cutouts aren't individual box quotations. But expensive livestock alongside softer wholesale beef is a difficult combination for processors. The more revealing distinction is between grades. From the previous Friday through Thursday, Choice gained sixty-three cents while Select lost one sixty-eight. Buyers able to substitute approved Select product can negotiate from evidence that Choice-only programs simply don't have. Retailers are defending prices on selected competitive items, according to industry commentary. Where beef is among them, packers may face tougher resistance to passing through cattle costs. That is a purchasing consideration, not evidence of falling beef consumption. Grinding programs have another calculation to run. Platts assessed imported frozen nineties at three thirteen C-I-F East Coast on October 14th. USDA's domestic fresh eighty-fives average Thursday was three sixteen. Different lean content, condition and delivery bases prohibit a direct savings comparison. A qualified finished-blend calculation can still reveal whether an alternative works. Scarce cattle are a structural problem. Not every finished-beef price gets permanent protection from that scarcity.HOST: Grandma believed in a chicken in every pot. China looked at that idea and apparently saw a customer list. For decades, China was the customer exporters wanted. They built capacity and relationships around getting chicken onto Chinese tables. Now Chinese processors are showing up at somebody else's table, carrying chicken. Reuters reported approximately two point six billion dollars in Chinese chicken-product exports in 2025. Chinese suppliers are challenging businesses Brazil, Thailand and other exporters spent years developing. China doesn't have to dominate world poultry trade to change the negotiating table. Win enough orders, and yesterday's dependable customer starts asking what makes the old supplier worth more. The exporter who loses an account still has a plant, employees and a sales team. It might sharpen its pencil, pursue a different market or fight harder for existing customers. Those are potential responses, not verified diversions of shipments. Buyers with qualified international suppliers should be asking for fresh offers. At home, the opportunity is more particular. USDA forecasts broiler production of forty-nine point seven two billion pounds in 2026 and fifty point one five billion in 2027. Thursday's report described steady whole birds, weaker undertones for wings and tenders, and breast conditions varying by size. More pounds don't automatically mean more of the exact part a plant needs. But abroad, established exporters are discovering that being first to the dinner table doesn't ...
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    10 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Thursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Thursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026
    15 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIMEThursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026

    HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Thursday Margin Monitor, October 15th. From The Sparks Group.

    SHAWN: You can be right about the market and dead wrong about the purchase. Cattle futures fell while wholesale beef rose. Hog futures weakened, but bellies took a beating as hams gained. Chicken production is growing, yet buyers aren't seeing the same conditions across every part. Fewer pounds don't guarantee stronger prices when demand is pushing back. Being right about the market doesn't mean a damn thing if you're wrong about your margin.

    HOST: Choice gained one thirty-five Wednesday to three seventy-six fifty. Select rose four eighty to three fifty-eight forty-seven. December live cattle declined one twenty-five to two twenty-five twelve. Fresh nineties averaged three ninety. Fresh fifties eighty-nine. Pork cutout fell one twenty-three to seventy-nine forty-five. Bellies plunged eleven dollars to eighty-three eighty. Hams gained three oh three. Hams and bellies are two different markets. Chicken is steady, with year-to-date slaughter up one point three percent.

    SHAWN: Sterling has unhedged feedlot losses at two hundred eighty-eight dollars a head and packer margins at a positive one hundred fifty-six. Pork plant utilization is at ninety-nine point one percent. December corn settled at four eighty-one. Meal at three sixty-four fifty. Before you commit, check the cost of the exact product delivered, the yield you can recover, and the selling price your customer will accept. If those three numbers don't work, neither does the deal. Stay disciplined.

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

    SHAWN: Stay disciplined.
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    2 min
  • THE PROTEIN PULSE Thursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026

    THE PROTEIN PULSE Thursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026
    15 Oct 2026
    THE PROTEIN PULSEThursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026Full Executive Briefing — Spoken ScriptHOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast, your daily market update on all things protein. This is Thursday Margin Monitor for October 15th, 2026, from The Sparks Group.SHAWN: You can be right about the market and dead wrong about the purchase. Wednesday offered plenty of evidence. Cattle futures fell while wholesale beef rose. Hog futures weakened, but bellies took a beating as hams gained. Chicken production is growing, yet buyers aren't seeing the same conditions across every part. Now USDA has reduced its forecasts for both pork production and hog prices. That ought to get our attention. Fewer pounds don't guarantee stronger prices when demand is pushing back. A cattle producer, packer, grinder and restaurant operator can look at the same market and reach very different conclusions. Each is carrying a different cost and selling a different product. The mistake isn't watching the futures board. It's letting that board make a purchasing decision it wasn't designed to make. Being right about the market doesn't mean a damn thing if you're wrong about your margin.HOST: Sterling's latest estimates put beef feedlots deeply in the red while beef packers retain positive, narrowing margins. Pork producers and packers are both seeing their margin cushion shrink as pork plant utilization approaches full capacity. USDA forecasts less domestic beef and pork production than previously expected, while chicken output expands. Hales Trading warns that a larger weekly cattle kill could test wholesale beef demand. For purchasers, Wednesday's mixed cutout, primal and futures moves argue for buying the exact product and delivery window, not the broad market headline.SHAWN: Beef's margin divide is stark. Sterling Marketing estimates unhedged feedlot losses of two hundred eighty-eight dollars a head for the week ended October 10th, narrower than the previous week's three hundred forty dollar loss. Its modeled breakeven for cattle marketed that week eased to two forty sixty-six, but the five-area Choice steer average was only two twenty eleven. These cash-model benchmarks exclude individual feedlot hedges. Sterling estimates beef packer margins at a positive one hundred fifty-six dollars a head, down from one hundred eighty-one the prior week. Fed plant capacity utilization slipped to seventy-nine point nine percent from eighty-two point five. Packers can post positive estimated per-head margins while still contending with the fixed-cost consequences of running plants below capacity. Neither model represents any individual company's audited results. The next test is demand. USDA estimated Wednesday's cattle slaughter at one hundred ten thousand head, with week-to-date slaughter at three hundred twenty-six thousand. Hales Trading raised its forecast for the full week to five hundred forty to five hundred fifty thousand head and warned that additional beef could pressure Choice cutout values below three seventy. That is Hales' conditional forecast, not an observed price or a confirmed slaughter total. For now the tape moved the other way. Wednesday's USDA Choice cutout gained one thirty-five to three seventy-six fifty. Select rose four eighty to three fifty-eight forty-seven. December live cattle futures declined one twenty-five to two twenty-five twelve. Wholesale recovery and futures weakness are different market signals. Neither alone establishes tomorrow's delivered beef cost. Cash discovery complicates the comparison. USDA recorded just two hundred ninety-seven head of negotiated cash cattle purchases Wednesday, while substantial cattle volumes continued to be priced through formulas and grids. Buyers using cash-referenced contracts should check their benchmark, premiums and settlement dates rather than extrapolating from a thin daily negotiation sample. The grind remains a separate purchasing decision. National fresh nineties averaged three ninety. Fresh eighty-fives two eighty-eight. Fresh fifties eighty-nine. Cheaper fat trim does not necessarily reduce a finished ground-beef formula's cost after lean requirements, yields and delivery terms are considered. October Wasdy also revised beef-production forecasts lower for both 2026 and 2027. Tighter cattle availability is still the underlying constraint.HOST: Chicken supplies continue expanding, but the price signal depends on the part. USDA's October 14th hatchery report put eggs set three percent above a year earlier and chicks placed one percent higher for the week ended October 10th. Young-chicken slaughter is up one point three percent year to date. Egg sets, placements and current slaughter describe different points in the supply pipeline. They do not mean the same pounds are immediately available. USDA called Wednesday's domestic broiler market steady. Bone-in and boneless breasts and tenders held steady. Wing demand was light and dark-meat supplies were clearing...
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    10 min