The paper quotes industry analyst Jonathan Snape as saying AWB's share of wheat marketing in Australia has plunged to 20pc from 75pc since exports and shipments were opened to competition.

Commodity adviser Market Check says most farmers were in favour of the single desk's disappearance.

"One thing a farmer hates is for his neighbour to be ahead of him. There were some farmers who liked the pooling because it grouped everyone together equally. But most are happy with the added competition," managing director Brett Stevenson says.

By world standards, Australia is a relatively small producer of grain, but about 80pc of the wheat and barley is exported, making Australia the world's fourth-largest wheat exporter.

Grain exports are expected to total 15.4 million tonnes in 2008-09, of which 10.2mt is wheat, Citigroup says.