A Rabobank analyst believes Australia cotton prices will fall in the second half of the year on the back of sluggish global demand.

Dr Lee Hickey has played a key role in developing technology that enables up to six generations a year for major crops.

The wheat industry will watch to see if Asian nations will slap a ban on purchases of US wheat after an outbreak of GM wheat was found.

The grain market expected cuts to US corn production in this week's USDA report, but was surprised by the extent of the downgrade.

Solid May rainfall in southern Australia has bolstered national winter crop prospects but a below average year is still likely.

WA has had a long awaited seasonal break, rain is heading to Victoria, but it remains stubbornly dry in northern NSW and Queensland.

US corn futures could rise as high as US650c/bu under a scenario outlined by veteran US grains industry analyst Dave Hightower.

Green peach aphid populations have been discovered in Western Australia with resistance to the insecticide sulfoxaflor.

The focus has been on grain heading from WA to Queensland and NSW but shipments are also moving into Victoria as well.

In other jurisdictions, farmers have been worried glyphosate may be banned by regulators, in Australia legal risk is a bigger concern.