ATLANTA, Ill. — In the heart of corn and soybean country, Hans and Katie Bishop of PrairiErth Farm are cultivating an unconventional dream, one pesticide-free, dirt-encrusted sweet potato at a time.

They left comfortable jobs at an insurance company to start their farm, where they grow organic vegetables sold locally and in stores and restaurants.

Their passion remains strong, but they’ve had to adapt to a changing industry rife with competitors.

“They always say, ‘The consumer is fickle,’ and it’s true. They know exactly what they want. So being able to meet that demand, and it’s ever-changing, has always been very difficult,” said Katie Bishop, 40.

Farmers like the Bishops have seen competitors offering their own organic fruits and vegetables sprout up like weeds in recent years. From large grocers with robust selections of organic produce to meal kit startups touting healthy and quick foods, consumers have an abundance of options. Organic produce can be purchased at any Walmart, Jewel-Osco or Aldi — or home-delivered via Amazon and other online retailers.

This rush of competition has hurt revenue at many small farms — particularly those that rely on sales through what’s known as community supported agriculture programs, or CSAs. Some farms have scaled back operations or closed altogether. Others, like PrairiErth, have changed business models to survive.

CSAs, where community members pay a certain amount for a weekly box of vegetables from the harvest, are designed to support local farming “so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm,” according to a definition on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website. The model gives farmers a consistent revenue stream with relatively low overhead costs.

But many farmers say their CSA sales peaked three or four years ago and that the concept has since fallen out of favor with consumers, who value convenience and customization.

Band of Farmers, a coalition of farmers selling produce in the area through a CSA program, has seen its ranks dwindle since forming in 2015. Fourteen of its current and former farmers — more than one-quarter of its peak membership — no longer make weekly produce boxes available. Six of them are no longer in business, said Cliff McConville, chairman of Band of Farmers and owner of All Grass Farms in Kane County.

Radical Root Organic Farm in Libertyville scaled back its operation this year after experiencing a decline in sales through its CSA program and at a local farmers market. Radical Root quit the farmers market, dropped from about 140 CSA boxes to 70, and is focusing on business at its farm stand, said Alison Parker, 39, who started the business in 2009 with her husband, Alex Needham.

Nick Batchelder and Becky Stark of Midnight Sun Farm in Capron, Ill., decided this will be their last season for their CSA program. Just a few years ago, Midnight Sun packed about 100 boxes a week for its members; now, that number’s closer to 60, Batchelder said.

With declining sales and two young children, both Batchelder and Stark took full-time jobs off the farm. Midnight Sun will continue to sell its produce and eggs at a neighborhood Sunday market, Batchelder said. Beyond that, they’re trying to figure how to sustain the farm into the future.

“We don’t want to hang it up and quit just because one goofy business model didn’t work,” Batchelder said. “If nothing else, I have a nice 50 acres to hunt deer on.”