Cost of Summer Cookout on Pace with Last Year
Samantha Ayoub
Associate Economist
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
photo credit: AFBF Photo, Mike Tomko
Samantha Ayoub
Associate Economist
Chad Smith
Associate News Service Editor, NAFB
The cost of feeding a crowd this July 4th will be about the same as last year, when shoppers saw a record high cost. Chad Smith has the numbers.
Smith: As Americans all across the country are gearing up to celebrate Independence Day, families planning a cookout celebration should plan to spend about the same as they did last year. Samantha Ayoub, an associate economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the group’s volunteer shopper survey found almost no change from last year’s results.
Ayoub: This year's summer cookout [survey] finds that a July 4th meal, it'll run you about $70.92 or $7.09 a person. This is the second-highest price we've seen since we started the survey, but it is down about 30 cents from last year, which has really slowed down from those huge spikes of inflation we were seeing the last few years.
Smith: She said some of the biggest price swings this year come from protein.
Ayoub: So, for two pounds of ground beef, this year, it’ll run you about $13, which is up 4.5 percent from last year. But our largest decrease was actually in pork chops, with an 8.8 percent decrease to $14.13. So, pork chops are really looking like a substitute for ground beef, whether they're on sale or also just increased supplies of hogs in the market.
Smith: Ayoub says that we can celebrate America’s independence this year in part because of the hard work of farmers and ranchers, but they are still waiting on a modernized, five-year farm bill.
Ayoub: As we continue to see crop prices falling, as we continue to see pressures from whether it's animal disease or crop disease or drought, we require support for our farmers, whether that's price supports in down markets or continued research and innovation to make sure that farmers have the technology they need to sustain through hard times.
Smith: Learn more at fb.org/4thofjuly. Chad Smith, Washington.
