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Published on:

30th Sep 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE Drive Time Wednesday Watchlist | September 30, 2026

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.

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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.