US arable farmers are being squeezed by declining crop prices and steady bills from suppliers, an official report has revealed.

The report may be taken by some observers as an indication that a key US planting report released later on March 31 will show a reduced farm appetite for planting, particularly for more intensive crops.

The prices farmers received for crops was 12.0% lower this month than a year ago, with major crops leading the way, the USDA said in its latest agricultural prices report.

Corn prices were 15.7% lower and soybeans down 20%, with wheat tumbling 44.3%. These falls were counterbalanced somewhat in the USDA index by rising prices of rice, potatoes and grapefruit.

Yet major costs stayed steady. The US Department of Agriculture's index of input costs stood at 174 this month, identical to a year ago.

That identical reading disguised a near-halving in fuel costs but a 19.0% surge in herbicide prices and a 9.0% rise in machinery costs, with manufacturers hiking the price tags for attachments in a soft market for tractors. Fertilizer prices were steady, with rising potash and phosphate balancing falling nitrogen prices.

Livestock farmers are only marginally better off than arable growers. While prices falls for livestock, at 16.3%, outpaced those of arable crops, major costs dropped, with feed down 9.3% year on year.