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Published on:

26th Oct 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Monday Market Open | October 26th, 2026

Protein Pulse Drive Time — Monday Market Open | October 26th, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Monday Market Open, October 26th. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: September cattle placements fell twelve percent, the lowest September number since 1996. That tightens the 2027 pipeline, but it doesn't make every beef cut worth chasing today. Avian influenza is hitting egg and turkey operations. Screwworm is raising new border questions. Neither headline tells you what's available on a truck this week, and neither gives packers automatic pricing power. Watch the actual restrictions, the product, and the delivery date. Price what your plant needs, not what the rumor says. Separate the noise from the inventory.

HOST: The Choice grade cutout closed at three sixty-five seventy-nine, down three sixty-eight. The Select grade gained two twenty-eight to three fifty-two sixty-nine. Fresh nineties at three eighty-seven F-O-B. Imported nineties near three oh eight F-C-A. Pork cutout at seventy-four oh nine, down one fourteen. Bellies down two forty-one. Chicken breast at one thirteen. Thighs at one seventy-five. West Texas Crude at one oh three twenty-seven. Corn at four fifty-six. Soybean meal at three forty-six ten.

SHAWN: USDA announced a five billion dollar processing-finance initiative with ninety percent loan guarantees up to one hundred seventy-five million. Lula won reelection in Brazil. Four new screwworm cases confirmed in Texas and New Mexico. Columbus is scheduled to reopen today. Brazil reported a second Newcastle outbreak. The commercial consequences will depend on what actually changes in financing, delivered offers and physical shipments. 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.