July 4 cookout prices about the same as last year; cattle farmers say they're not profiting from higher beef prices

Americans will pay about the same as they did last year for favorite Independence Day cookout foods, but 8 percent more than in 2019, according to a new American Farm Bureau Federation analysis. The average cost of a cookout for 10 people is $59.50 this July 4, down 16 cents from 2020.

"AFBF’s summer cookout menu consists of cheeseburgers, pork chops, chicken breasts, homemade potato salad, pork & beans, strawberries, potato chips and fresh-squeezed lemonade with ice cream and chocolate chip cookies for dessert," AFBF reports. "The year-to-year direction of the market-basket survey tracks closely with the federal government’s Consumer Price Index report for food at home. Both the index and the market basket remain relatively flat compared to year-ago levels."

Strawberries saw the largest year-to-year price increase: Two pints costs $5.30, a 22% increase from 2020 that analysts chalked up to high demand and poor weather that hurt crops. A two-pound bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts is $6.74, up 1% from 2020, and two pounds of ground beef is $8.20, down 8% from 2020, AFBF found. The AFBF prices come from Bureau of Labor Statistics food price data and more than 160 volunteer rural shoppers across the country.

Changes in meat prices are "more nuanced" than those of other foods, according to AFBF economist Veronica Nigh: "Beef and pork processing plant disruptions that occurred in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic have been resolved, leading to lower retail ground beef and pork chop prices in 2021 compared to 2020. . . . However, consumers looking a bit farther back to compare prices are seeing higher prices for ground beef, pork chops and chicken breasts compared to pre-pandemic (2019) prices. That’s due to continued strong demand for American-grown beef and pork from both U.S. and international consumers."

Though ground-beef prices are down a little from last year, the year-to-year figures fail to register a dramatic drop in beef prices last year that was followed by recently surging prices. Cattle farmers complain that, despite the high demand, they're barely breaking even or even losing money. 

"Since mid-March — as restaurants reopened, global demand accelerated and grilling season started — wholesale beef prices have shot up more than 40 percent, with certain steak cuts skyrocketing more than 70 percent, according to the Department of Agriculture," Julie Creswell reports for The New York Times. "Grocery stores, aware that consumers can easily grab a pack of chicken or pork instead, have increased prices for ground beef 5 percent and steaks more than 9 percent from a year ago, according to NielsenIQ. Some restaurants, facing a quandary as diners return in certain parts of the country, are slightly raising prices while others are removing beef from the menu."

Many farmers and lawmakers blame meat processors Cargill, JBS, Tyson Foods and National Beef, which account for more than 80% of the processed beef in the U.S. "On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry will hold a hearing on transparency and pricing in the cattle market," Creswell reports. "The hearing follows numerous lawsuits filed in recent years by grocery chains, ranchers and others that claim the meatpackers have colluded to increase the price of beef by limiting supply." 

Processing, transportation and packaging are major components of the cost of foods, AFBF notes. Farmers only get from 2%-35% of every marketing dollar.