Low value, high bulk commodities give the farmer a smaller and smaller proportion of the food dollar. Instead, products make money, from identity-preserved grains and soybeans to specially raised animals and specialty vegetables. Products, in turn, require integrated supply chains. Multiple intermediaries, from grain elevators with pooled commodities to sales barns to general produce markets are giving way to direct contracts with clear product quality guidelines that accompany an agreed upon price and a specified market. The more direct links to end-users of the product, in turn, means the need to increase flexibility on the part of the producer.
Products constantly change, which means constant adjustment on the part of the producers.
Moving from a commodity to a product does not mean just changing from one comfortable set of nuts in terms of what you produce and how you produce it into another. It means constant adjustment and constant change. While independence was rewarded in the old system, so one did not give away one's comparative advantage, networks become crucial in the new economy. Flexible networks facilitate both product identification and establish marketing channels. Whereas in the old model, competition was valued, in the new economy teamwork and cooperation increase competitive advantage.