Corn and soybean planters have started to roll in the southern
Corn Belt and farmer optimism has returned, just like it does
every spring. This year I can see a very real reason for that
optimism. It's all due to a key word that you will read a lot
about in the next year: demand.  In 1997 and into 1998 a
downturn in the global economy caused many of our best customers
to pull back on soybean purchases, and prices fell as demand was
less than expected. Now most of these nations are back in the
growth mode.  U.S. soybean exports are running at a pace that's
far above last year's export pace and well above USDA
projections.  Table 1 (see printed article) the USDA and
NorthStar supply-demand estimates for this year. In the last
three months USDA has dropped soybean ending stocks from 395
million bushels to 345 million bushels. Based on the current
export pace, we look for ending stocks to drop to between 300
and 320 million bushels in future reports. This would take the
stocks-to-use ratio down to just 12-13%. Th