THE PROTEIN PULSE PODCAST | Closing Bell Friday | September 25, 2026

THE PROTEIN PULSE PODCAST Closing Bell Friday | September 25, 2026 Your daily market update on all things protein

HOST: Welcome to The Protein Pulse Podcast — your daily market update on all things protein. This is Closing Bell Friday for September 25, 2026, from The Sparks Group.

SHAWN: Kansas and the Hogs and Pigs report tell two different stories, but both matter if you’re buying protein for the fourth quarter. National Beef adjusted shifts in Liberal, cattle shipments have been delayed, and buyers are dealing with uncertainty over beef deliveries. That can become a problem for next week’s production schedule, regardless of where the cutout closed. On the pork side, USDA reported a smaller pig crop despite record productivity. It doesn’t mean we’re short of pork today, but those missing pigs won’t be available when they would ordinarily reach market. With holiday production, transportation, and year-end inventories ahead, I’d be confirming beef deliveries and checking pork coverage against the weeks I actually need product. A softer price is useful, but only if the product is there when the plant needs it. A softer market doesn’t guarantee a full truck.

HOST: Southwest Kansas processing disruptions are affecting cattle movement and beef shipment reliability. Santa Teresa reopened Thursday, restoring an important Mexican cattle supply channel. USDA’s September Hogs and Pigs report showed fewer breeding animals and a smaller pig crop despite record productivity. Imported lean remains an important alternative for ground beef manufacturers as domestic lean supplies remain constrained.

SHAWN: National Beef adjusted shift starting times at its Liberal, Kansas, facility on September twenty-third amid increased federal immigration enforcement across southwest Kansas. The Kansas Livestock Association, Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association, and Texas Cattle Feeders Association subsequently reported thousands of delayed fed-cattle shipments and millions of dollars in associated losses and additional costs. USDA estimated Thursday’s cattle slaughter at ninety thousand, versus one hundred seven thousand the previous Thursday. Week-to-date three hundred eighty-nine thousand, down from four hundred twenty thousand the preceding week. Year-to-date nineteen point nine one million, down seven point seven percent. The longer-term slaughter contraction predates this week’s disruption. USDA’s national figures do not establish how much of Thursday’s decline resulted specifically from immigration enforcement.

HOST: Heavy carcasses continue providing additional pounds. Steer carcass weights averaged nine hundred seventy-seven pounds for the week ending September twelfth, up eighteen pounds year over year. Thursday’s wholesale market finished lower. Choice three seventy-six. Select three fifty-two. For buyers, the near-term issue is delivery reliability. A lower cutout provides little relief when a committed shipment cannot reach the production line.

SHAWN: Santa Teresa reopened September twenty-fourth following restrictions associated with New World screwworm. That restores an important feeder-cattle supply channel under enhanced inspection and animal-health protocols. Santa Teresa helps replenish cattle entering the U.S. production system. It does not immediately replace finished cattle or resolve this week’s Kansas processing interruptions.

HOST: Dairy cows have accounted for about fifty-seven percent of U.S. cow slaughter in twenty twenty-six, according to Len Steiner’s September twenty-fourth Daily Livestock Report. The dairy herd reached nine point seven one million head in August, its highest level since nineteen ninety-two. Additional dairy culls have helped supply domestic manufacturing beef while beef-cow slaughter remains constrained. Dairy herd expansion is slowing, making imported lean particularly relevant to ground beef manufacturers.

SHAWN: USDA counted seventy-four point three oh two million hogs and pigs on September first, about one point five percent below last year. The breeding herd declined to five point eight seven five million — its smallest September inventory since twenty thirteen, according to economist Lee Schulz. The June–August pig crop declined to thirty-four point five oh eight million, despite producers saving a record eleven point nine six pigs per litter. Fewer sows farrowing outweighed the productivity improvement. Schulz projected modest average profitability for twenty twenty-six and losses under his twenty twenty-seven futures assumptions. Purdue’s Michael Langemeier estimated swine finishing feed costs could increase about nine point seven percent in twenty twenty-seven using early-September futures. The smaller pig crop is a forward supply consideration. It does not establish an immediate shortage of holiday pork.

HOST: Pork export sales increased seventeen percent to thirty-five thousand three hundred metric tons for the week ending September seventeenth. Physical shipments rose sixteen percent to thirty-two thousand one hundred. Mexico led with fifteen thousand eight hundred metric tons, then China at six thousand nine hundred. Thursday’s pork cutout declined to eighty-six cents, with bellies losing three thirty-three cents. National negotiated hogs finished near seventy-nine cents. The Hogs and Pigs report was released after Thursday’s session. Those prices are the completed market preceding the report, not the market’s reaction to it.

SHAWN: Chicken. USDA reported one hundred sixty-eight point oh one three million chickens slaughtered in the week ending September nineteenth, down four percent from the comparable twenty twenty-five week. Ready-to-cook production declined six percent. Year-to-date production remained one poi