MONROE - President-elect Barack Obama's "Blueprint for Change" lists many plans to fight for fair trade policies that open up foreign markets to support good American jobs, "spread good labor and environmental standards around the world," and "stop unfair government subsidies to foreign exporters and nontariff barriers on U.S. exports."

However, he has given few details as to how he will accomplish those plans.

That leaves local business developers and agriculturists unable to predict what Obama's changes in U.S. trade policies will do for Green County's economy.

"I haven't seen what Obama is going to do, but any retraction from or changes to current policies will be detrimental to our bottom line," said Jeff Ditzenberger, president of the Green County Farm Bureau.

"We have to be able to move our produce back and forth, and keep pursuing that," he said.

The exportation of machinery and produce "is money in our pockets," he added.

Anna Schramke, executive director of the Green County Development Corporation, also sees U.S. trade policies going in the right direction.

"I was a strong NAFTA supporter at first. But it is going to take a while for NAFTA to benefit us," she said.

Schramke said the North American Free Trade Agreement has helped foreign nations increase their standard of living, and as their citizens make more money, they eventually will be able to buy more U.S. products.

"It is increasing the standard of living for everyone." she said.

Russ Torkelson, Monticello, is District 23 Green County Supervisor, vice chair on the county conservation committee and a farmer. He believes things are going well for the farmers.

"Don't fix it if it isn't broken," he said.

He would want only a little more of the same.

"I hope they keep the farm programs intact and not cut subsidies anymore," he said.

Obama's blueprint calls for a $250,000 payment limitation, which he said will help family farmers - not large corporate agribusiness.

Obama believes "family farmers are being squeezed" and that farm consolidation has made it harder for mid-size family farmers to get fair prices for their products and compete on the open market.

He also wants "tougher regulations on concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs)" and to close loopholes on mega farms that get around the limits by subdividing operations into "multiple paper corporations."

"It doesn't matter whether they're large farms or the so-called traditional family farms, all farms are important to the economy. And those farms are important to the Green County economy," Ditzenberger said. "Every dollar produced in agriculture is turned over nine times" in the community.

"If you go to the store for a gallon of milk, or to a restaurant for steak, or if all you eat is vegetables, it is still grown by an agriculturist. Everybody's got their niche. Everybody is just trying to make an honest living," he said.

Ditzenberger said commodity and milk prices are good right now.

"But for every $1 spent on food, an average of only 19 cents goes to the farmer," he said.

"Even though the farmers have been getting good prices, and record prices, in the last two years, the cost of doing business is going up more than income has. The margin is tight."

Obama wants to increase incentives for farmers and private landowners to conduct sustainable agriculture and protect wetlands, grasslands and forests.

As a member of the county conservation committee, Torkelson wants to keep the conservation programs going.

"They're going good now. The funding is good and we have good programs," he said.

"They could make the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) more attractive, so that not so much (land) is coming out (of the program)," he added.

Torkelson said many acres in Green County are coming out of the reserve program to be planted with soybeans and corn, land that is "rough" and prone to erosion, he said.

Rental rates for the CPR program were set "a while back" he said. "Rental rates are low for CRP, and land rent is higher right now."

With commodity prices up, more farmers can afford to pay the higher rents, prompting land owners to rent to farmers rather than get locked into the government's lower rates for years.

How the 2007 Farm Bill will fit into the Obama plan is not yet known. The bill passed this fall still has parts not in place yet, Torkelson said.

"The food stamp part of the bill - a lot of people don't realize that is part of the farm bill. There are a lot of needy people. I hope they keep that going," Torkelson said.

"We do have a competitive advantage in food and agriculture products," Schramke said.

But the biggest economic event recently, which will effect Green County, is the closing of General Motors in Janesville, she said.

"I'm not sure that is caused by outsourcing as much as by a perception of people that foreign-made automobiles are better," she said. "We get it hammered into our heads by media and consumer reports. But it is a personal preference and belief."

Schramke found the highest unemployment rate now is in Racine, at 8.5 percent.

"They expect it to be double digit after the first of the year. We're at 3.5 percent here. I think they've never recovered from the Ford manufacturing plant closing. It was devastating," she said.

Woodbridge Corporation in Brodhead is one advocate of keeping people in the county working, she said, even though it announced last month a possible layoff by the end of the year.

"We need local managers who are fighting to keep plants open," she said. "It helps to have local managers dedicated to Green County."

When companies get too big and become interstate or international, commitments tend to disappear, she said.

Schramke witnessed a time in her life when a Caterpillar plant closed in Illinois, resulting in a "community change."

"It was hard to see. Union employees (had) raised the standard of living of the community. They played a role in the growth of the community. They had the income and spent the money. It had a snowballing effect."

To help all workers adapt to a rapidly changing economy, Obama wants to update the existing Trade Adjustment Assistance, by extending it to service industries, creating flexible education accounts to help workers retrain, and providing retraining assistance for workers in sectors of the economy vulnerable to dislocation before they lose their jobs.

Schramke said NAFTA has helped foreign nations increase their standard of living, and as their citizens make more money, they will be able to buy more U.S. products.

"It is increasing the standard of living for everyone." she said.

"Advance Transformers took a lot of stuff to Mexico," she said. "A lot of lines went to Mexico and China," she said.

"But the skills of metal stamping here helped keep that line here," she added. "The plant here was able to maintain contracts with Phillips. It had a competitive advantage. I'm just taking an outsider's view; I'm sure there were more reasons."

Obama, a NAFTA opponent, wants to amend the deal to add labor agreements, saying he will act forcefully, including a potential withdrawal from the treaty, to ensure labor and environmental sidebar agreements are enforced effectively.

"People don't want cheaper T-shirts if it costs their job," he said in a Democrat primary debate Aug. 19, 2007.

Obama opposed the U.S.-Dominican Republic Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) based on labor and environmental concerns. However, he supports the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement.

"In the global picture, something has to be done so tariffs are equal ... so that overseas companies don't have an unfair advantage," Schramke said.

Tariff charges are not seen by many of Green County's plants, but neither are overseas exports.

"Dairy, as an export, is just beginning to see what that means and how that translates into opportunities," Schramke said.

"I'm sure there are other opportunities we haven't thought of," she said.

"Going green" in conjunction with the expanding global market will not be a problem from most businesses, Schramke said.

"Most businesses think along those lines now. But it will be a new opportunity for new entrepreneurs to develop in business," she said.

But Schramke asks whether the next generation, known for its ability and willingness to change jobs rapidly, will be able to retire.

"The young will have to be more entrepreneurial. The concept of working for someone all your life is gone," she said.

"But what happens to them when they are ready to retire? Are they living on the edge? If they're smart, they'll get into inventions and learn to manage their money. Managing money and planning for the future is now more important," she said.