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Published on:

25th Sep 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Special Report | USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs | September 25, 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME Special Report | USDA Quarterly Hogs and Pigs | September 25, 2026

Fewer hogs. Record productivity.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Special Report, September twenty-fifth. From The Sparks Group. USDA Hogs and Pigs.

SHAWN: I’ve spent plenty of time talking about cattle numbers and how heavier carcasses have helped make up for fewer animals. Yesterday’s report reminded me that pork is a different animal, literally. The hog herd is down two percent. Producers saved a record eleven point nine six pigs per litter. Farrowings are declining faster than those gains can make up for. Hog carcass weights haven’t changed much in more than a decade. Don’t count on the hog industry pulling that same rabbit out of the hat.

HOST: Total inventory seventy-four point three million — about one point one million fewer than last September. Summer pig crop down one point five percent, about five hundred thirty-six thousand fewer pigs. Fall farrowings intended down one point eight. Winter intended up two point one. The summer crop is a fact. The winter recovery is still an intention.

SHAWN: Steer dressed weights are up almost seventeen percent over twenty years. Chicken live weights up twenty-three. Hog dressed weights: two hundred fourteen pounds in twenty fourteen, two hundred fifteen in twenty twenty-five. One pound in eleven years. If the hogs aren’t there, history doesn’t give us much reason to expect heavier carcasses to replace the missing production. 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.