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29th Sep 2026

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

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.

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About the Podcast

Protein Pulse Podcast
Your Daily Market Update on All Things Protein.
The Protein Pulse Podcast delivers concise, commercially focused protein market intelligence for buyers, sellers, traders, procurement leaders, processors, and executives across the beef, pork, chicken, feed, and global protein markets. Each episode translates USDA data, market pricing, slaughter trends, trade flows, imports, feed costs, policy developments, and supply-chain signals into clear, practical market context. The focus is simple: cut through the noise, explain what the numbers mean, and give protein professionals the market context they need before making their next decision. Your Daily Market Update on All Things Protein.

About your host

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Shawn Sparks

Shawn Sparks is the founder of The Protein Pulse and a protein procurement, sourcing, and trading executive with more than two decades of experience across beef, pork, chicken, and the broader food supply chain.

His career has included senior procurement and purchasing leadership roles at some of the largest food companies in the industry, with responsibility for billions of dollars in annual protein spend and complex domestic and global sourcing programs.

Today, Shawn leads The Sparks Group, Inc. and Great Plains Protein LLC, where he works across protein sourcing, trading, procurement strategy, supplier development, and market intelligence.

Through The Protein Pulse Podcast, Shawn brings a practical, commercial perspective to the protein markets — translating USDA data, pricing, slaughter trends, imports, exports, feed costs, policy, and supply-chain developments into clear context for buyers, sellers, traders, processors, and industry leaders.

His focus is simple: cut through the noise, explain what the numbers mean, and help protein professionals understand what matters next.

The Protein Pulse — Your Daily Market Update on All Things Protein.