Cost of a summer cookout down slightly

The American Farm Bureau Federation’s summer cookout survey shows Americans’ favorite foods for the Fourth of July will cost slightly less this year. AFBF market intelligence director John Newton says the survey of staple summer cookout items for 10 people will cost less than $6 per person.

The summer cookout survey showed that the cost of the 14 food items used for a summer barbeque, including ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, watermelon and American cheese was $55.70, down slightly from last year’s total.

He said the declines in price follows market action and on-farm production, with an increase in pork production and an abundance of dairy supplies this year.

The foods that were the biggest driver of the price of the decline were ribs and American cheese. “We saw a 60 cent decline in ribs, and a 24 cents per-pound decline in American cheese. We also saw a decline in chocolate milk, the natural recovery drink, as it was down about two percent from last year,” said Newton.

He added the year-to-year direction of the marketbasket survey tracks closely with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index report for food at home, and attributes the declines in the prices consumers pay to the hard work of American farmers and ranchers.

“The results of this survey track overall food price trends. We see the CPI for food consumed at home down about two percent over the last 12 months, and we see the price of this basket down slightly less than one percent than where it was last year. It’s on the back of these productivity and technology gains that we continue to have a safe, high quality and affordable food supply this Fourth of July, said Newton.