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(Iowa) -- Hosting a summer cookout this year will cost more than it did last year.
The 2026 American Farm Bureau Federation annual market basket survey finds a hosting a gathering that feeds 10 people will cost an average of $73.82. That's $2.90 higher than this time last year, a roughly 4% increase. The price increase follows the 4.2% increase in prices nationally due to inflation.
Christopher Pudens with the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation says much of the increase is due to instability in the nation's beef market. "[The price of] 2 pounds of ground beef is up 5.5% to just over $7 a pound, and that reflects the overall supply and demand situation in the cattle and beef market right now."
This year's estimated cost for a summer cookout is the highest since Farm Bureau started recording prices in 2016, though this year's cost is not substantially higher than recent years. The survey looked at the prices of 12 items, 10 of which saw price increases.
However, eggs saw the largest price decrease at 17.8%, following a decline in cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza. Potatoes also saw an overall price decrease compared to last year.
The full survey on the cost of summer cookout is available on the Farm Bureau website.