The USDA said farm prices held steady in June.

For the previous three months the prices farmers get for raw products had declined, the Agriculture Department reported. The preliminary June reading was also 10% below a year ago. According to USDA records, the index in the last two months was the lowest it has been since January, 1983. Officials said higher prices for hogs, tomatoes, potatoes, broilers and cotton were offset in June by lower prices for cattle, milk, wheat, hay, feed grains and lettuce. Meanwhile, the prices farmers paid in June declined 0.6% from May, also averaging 0.6% below a year earlier.