DELEGATES at next week's Australian Grain Industry Conference in Melbourne will hear the latest on the global grain trade.

The address will be given by keynote speaker Dan Basse, of Chicago market research company AgResource. He will also speak on biofuels.

The annual three-day conference, which begins next Monday, has attracted a record number of more than 600 registrations.

Organiser Rosemary Richards said the conference had also attracted its largest overseas contingent.

Other international speakers will include chairman of Coceral's market and agricultural policy section, Klaus Schumacher, who will address delegates on how ingredients derived from genetically modified crops impact on the European Union's food and feed industries.

Dr Schumacher is a former head of economics for German grain trading giant Toepfer International.

With China buying a lot of Australian malting barley, there will be a lot of interest in the presentation by Hong Kong-based Joe Fung, director of Officer Supertime Development Ltd which is a major barley buyer.

Representatives of the Korean Feed Association, the Canadian Grain Association and the North American Export Grain Association will also attend.

The conference is organised by the Grain Trade Australia, Australian Oilseeds Federation and Pulse Australia.