High prices for grains and oilseeds, managing price risk and biofuels were all on the agenda for the grains session at the ABARE OUTLOOK conference today.

ABARE Senior Commodity Analyst Vince O'Donnell said grain prices were expected to remain high in the year ahead.

”The price of grains and oilseeds has been at record levels during 2007-08, and they are expected to remain high in 2008-09,” Mr O'Donnell told the conference.

”Although it is still early days, assuming that there is a return to average seasonal conditions, there is a good chance of a bumper Australian winter crop in 2008-09.”

However, Mr O'Donnell said grain growers would continue to face challenges including high input costs and debt levels.

Dr Mary Bohman, from the United States Department of Agriculture"s Economic Research Service, addressed the conference on biofuels and grains markets.

Dr Bohman highlighted the growth in biofuels production, which has tripled since 2000. The largest biofuels producers are the European Union, the United Sates and Brazil.

“While the use of ethanol has been increasing, per person consumption is miniscule,” Dr Bohman said. Per person consumption is highest in Brazil at 26.6 gallons a year, closely followed by the United States with per person consumption of 22.8 gallons a year.

Brett Stevenson, Managing Director of agricultural commodity marketing service Market Check, spoke of the lessons learnt from all the risk management tools available to growers, including contracts, swaps and capital management.

“Managing a grain farm requires disciplined risk management. Growing a crop is only one of the required skill base,” he said.