The cost of a Fourth of July cookout is down to about $6 person, 3 percent less than a year ago, the American Farm Bureau Federation said this week, based on its annual informal survey.

That cookout would include hot dogs and buns, cheeseburgers and buns, pork spare ribs, deli potato salad, baked beans, corn chips, lemonade, chocolate milk, watermelon and ketchup and mustard for 10 people at a cost of $55.84, or $5.58 per person, Farm Bureau said.

Eighty-eight Farm Bureau members in 30 states checked retail prices for summer cookout foods at their local grocery stores for the informal survey.

“Based on our survey, food prices overall appear to be fairly stable. Prices for beef have continued to increase this year, but prices for other meats are generally declining. Dairy product prices are also quite a bit lower,” said John Anderson, deputy chief economist at Farm Bureau.

“Meat production is starting to increase substantially. Beef prices have started to stabilize but have not declined yet. On the other hand, retail pork prices have been declining all year,” Anderson said.

“Fuel and other energy prices have also generally been lower so far this year compared to last year,” Anderson said. “This helps keep prices down on the more processed items in the basket. Energy is an important component of the final price for these products.”

• American Farm Bureau Federation — 2015 Summer Cookout