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Published on:

10th Sep 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE — DRIVE TIME | Thursday Margin Monitor | September 10, 2026

Thursday Margin Monitor | September 10, 2026

HOST: Protein Pulse Drive Time. Thursday Margin Monitor, September tenth. From The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Everybody is watching Brazil. I'm watching October. Over fifteen years, October nineties have averaged four point nine percent below September—and lower every year. Cattle slaughter is down eight percent. The seasonal hasn't changed. The market around it has.

HOST: Wednesday was not one margin story.

SHAWN: Choice gained three twenty. Select lost three oh five. The spread blew out to twenty-eight forty-three. Fifties dropped to ninety-three cents. Nineties and eighty-fives did not establish. Cash cattle stayed quiet. Late-week trade matters more than the quiet start.

HOST: Pork has cheaper hogs and a compressed spread. Chicken has more birds. Crude jumped three dollars to ninety-six.

SHAWN: Smithfield expects a seventy to ninety million dollar Fresh Pork loss in the third quarter while Hog Production stays profitable. Bellies bounced almost fourteen cents after Tuesday's break. Corn fell into Friday's crop report. Feed got cheaper. Delivered cost did not.

HOST: The quota is about nineteen percent used. Imports were already filling the hole.

SHAWN: July production was short about a hundred million pounds. Imports made up most of the domestic gap. More access is not unlimited beef. Watch October. Watch what actually gets bought. 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.