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Published on:

14th Sep 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME | Monday Market Open | September 14, 2026

Monday Market Open | September 14, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Monday Market Open, September fourteenth. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Oil jumped above one hundred three this morning after attacks shut the Saudi pipeline built to bypass Hormuz. Diesel futures moved above five dollars. That's freight, refrigeration, packaging, feed, and every truck from plant to customer. Harvest is running on diesel too. We've spent a lot of time on the price of protein. This week, watch the cost of producing and moving it.

HOST: Grind math improved. Cattle profits moved. They didn't disappear.

SHAWN: Fresh nineties finished four thirty-seven. Fifties ninety-three cents. Sterling has packers around plus one sixty-nine and feedlots about minus three twenty-nine. Cow-calf still looks strong. Year-to-date cattle slaughter is down seven point six percent. Retail ground beef hit a record seven sixteen in August while wholesale coarse ground had already fallen sixteen percent from June. Cheaper inputs and cheaper hamburger are not the same thing.

HOST: Pork broke again on bellies. Chicken still has the extra birds. HPAI is a watch item, not a supply reversal.

SHAWN: Weekly pork cutout ninety-two cents. Bellies down more than twenty-six cents. Brazil shipped more pork in August for less money. Chicken slaughter is up one point three percent. Cases in the northern Plains and Manitoba are a risk to that advantage—not proof it's gone. USDA only added one hundred thirty million pounds to the twenty twenty-six import forecast against a three-hundred-thousand-ton window. Watch utilization and landed lean, not the headline. 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.