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Farm Bureau survey: July 4th cookout costs up 1 percent

An informal survey says Americans’ Fourth of July cookout will cost slightly more this year but still comes in at less than $6 per person.  The American Farm Bureau’s annual price check on mid-summer cookout items comes to $56.06 to feed ten people – about $5.60 a person.  The items include hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pork spare ribs and many other items typically part of a summer cookout.

Although the cost for the cookout is up less than 1 percent, American Farm Bureau economist Veronica Nigh says prices in the meat case are starting to come down.  She says rebounding beef production from its slump a couple of years ago is causing retail ground round prices to trend lower.

She says pork production has also grown, keeping spare rib prices from their normal seasonal upswing commonly seen around July 4th.

Retail watermelon prices are up because shipments from the four major producing states, Texas, Florida, Georgia and California, are down nearly 8 percent compared to a year ago.

The survey was completed by 79 volunteer Farm Bureau members in 26 states checking retail prices for summer cookout foods in mid-June at local grocery stores.