An informal survey from the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) dug into the cost of summer cookout season. The survey looked into the cost of Americans’ favorite foods for the Fourth of July, including hot dogs, cheeseburgers, pork spare ribs, potato salad, baked beans, lemonade and chocolate milk, and found that, while the food products will cost slightly more this year, the average cookout cost still comes in at less than $6 per person.

Farm Bureau’s informal survey reveals the average cost of a summer cookout for 10 people is $56.06, or $5.61 per person.

“Prices in the meat case are starting to look better from the consumers’ perspective,” said Veronica Nigh, an AFBF economist. “But retail ground round prices are trending lower. On the pork side, commercial production also continues to grow and is at the highest level in 25 years.”

The AFBF’s summer cookout menu for 10 people included hot dogs and buns, cheeseburgers and buns, pork spare ribs, deli potato salad, baked beans, corn chips, lemonade, chocolate milk, ketchup, mustard and watermelon for dessert.

For the survey, a total of 79 Farm Bureau members 26 states checked retail prices for summer cookout foods in mid-June at their local grocery stores.

The summer cookout survey is part of the Farm Bureau marketbasket series, which also includes the popular annual Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Survey and two additional surveys of common food staples Americans use to prepare meals at home.

“Through the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home and away from home, on average. Since then, that figure has decreased steadily and is now about 17 percent, according to the Agriculture Department’s revised Food Dollar Series,” Nigh said.

AFBF is the nation’s largest general farm organization with member families in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Learn more at Farm Bureau’s Facebook page or follow @FarmBureau on Twitter.