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30th Oct 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Closing Bell Friday | October 30th, 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME

Closing Bell Friday | October 30th, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Closing Bell Friday, October 30th. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Look at corporate earnings this week. More pounds don't guarantee more profit. Pilgrim's Pride watched EBITDA collapse fifty percent as U.S. chicken supply expanded. Smithfield lost eighty-nine million dollars in fresh pork while making two hundred thirty million downstream in packaged meats. Sterling estimates beef packers earned fifty-four a head while feedlots lost two hundred twenty-six. If you're buying off broad averages, you're flying blind. Stop chasing headline slaughter numbers. Manage your costs by the specific cut and customer channel. Volume is vanity. Item-level execution pays the bills.

HOST: Choice grade cutout at three sixty-seven twenty-eight, down one seventy-two. Pork cutout at seventy oh sixty-nine. Belly primal at sixty-five sixty-nine, down ten ninety-three. Fresh eighty-fives at three oh four. West Texas Crude at one oh two. Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel at four fifty-nine.

SHAWN: DoorDash proposed a seventeen billion dollar acquisition of Instacart. USDA plans additional pork and chicken purchases. Prioritize belly and ground-beef trim negotiations. 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.