The cost of a July 4th cookout is up. Here's why.

WASHINGTON — Hosting a cookout this Independence Day weekend will cost you slightly more this year than it did in 2015, according to the American Farm Bureau, analyzing retail prices on a long list of popular picnic food items.

The average cost of a cookout this year for 10 people is $56.06, which includes 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.

Last year, a cookout for 10 people cost $55.84.

“The summer is where we sell most of that product,” said Veronica Nigh, an economist with the American Farm Bureau.

“Folks are definitely planning for these seasons well in advance.”

The price represents a 1 percent increase from last year and aligns with the government’s consumer price index report that measures the changes in prices of goods and services.

Meat prices are down after two years of higher prices due to limited supply.

“Farmers have started building those herds back up, which means we have more supply of beef and pork and were starting to see that in the prices,” Nigh said.

The cost of watermelon is up nearly 7 percent this year.

Nigh attributes that to a drop in shipments of the fruit from the four states that produce it. Florida, Georgia, Texas and California grow 44 percent of the U.S. crop.

“Watermelon is very regional,” she said. “We don’t ship it too far, so in certain areas we’re seeing a fairly significant increase in price.”

Here's a full list of items surveyed by the Farm Bureau:

Cox Media Group