THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME

Thursday Margin Monitor | October 15th, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Thursday Margin Monitor, October 15th. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: You can be right about the market and dead wrong about the purchase. Cattle futures fell while wholesale beef rose. Hog futures weakened, but bellies took a beating as hams gained. Chicken production is growing, yet buyers aren't seeing the same conditions across every part. Fewer pounds don't guarantee stronger prices when demand is pushing back. Being right about the market doesn't mean a damn thing if you're wrong about your margin.

HOST: Choice gained one thirty-five Wednesday to three seventy-six fifty. Select rose four eighty to three fifty-eight forty-seven. December live cattle declined one twenty-five to two twenty-five twelve. Fresh nineties averaged three ninety. Fresh fifties eighty-nine. Pork cutout fell one twenty-three to seventy-nine forty-five. Bellies plunged eleven dollars to eighty-three eighty. Hams gained three oh three. Hams and bellies are two different markets. Chicken is steady, with year-to-date slaughter up one point three percent.

SHAWN: Sterling has unhedged feedlot losses at two hundred eighty-eight dollars a head and packer margins at a positive one hundred fifty-six. Pork plant utilization is at ninety-nine point one percent. December corn settled at four eighty-one. Meal at three sixty-four fifty. Before you commit, check the cost of the exact product delivered, the yield you can recover, and the selling price your customer will accept. If those three numbers don't work, neither does the deal. Stay disciplined.

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Shawn Sparks, The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Stay disciplined.