Written by Katie Bishop, Organic Grain Mentorship Coordinator at The Land Connection
February 2026

The Land Connection (TLC) has spent several years exploring how best to support farmers interested in transitioning to organic grain production in Illinois and the broader Midwest. While demand for organic grain continues to grow, farmers face persistent barriers including access to land, markets, capital, technical knowledge, and peer support. At the same time, organic transition is rarely a single-season decision. It is often shaped by long-term financial risk, land tenure issues, identity, family dynamics, community perception, and market uncertainty.

Working alongside other regions developing mentorship programs, many of them not grain-focused, has created shared learning, collective problem-solving, and cross-regional insight that informed program planning, implementation, and refinement. This peer network proved as valuable as any formal guidance structure, helping TLC adapt its model through lived experience rather than theory alone. We also found a community of practice through collaboration with the Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program (Midwest TOPP).

This paper documents that evolution: the original need and assumptions that shaped early program design, the research and consultation that informed development, the realities of implementing an organic grain mentorship program in 2024, and then the restructuring and refinement of the model in 2025. Rather than presenting a finalized or prescriptive model, this document shares lessons about what was attempted, what worked, what did not, and what these experiences suggest for other organizations interested in building similar programs.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Origins and Early Vision
• Research, Consultation, and Program Design
• 2024 Organic Grain Mentorship
• Program Refinement and the 2025 Model
• Conclusion
• Supporting Materials

This mentorship model reflects the reality that change in agriculture happens through relationships, experience, and adaptation, not perfect design. The program helped clarify what farmers need, what mentorship can offer, and what support structures make it work. Organic transition is long-term and complex. Mentorship works best as one steady point of connection within a broader network of support, helping farmers navigate risk, connect within their communities  and build confidence over time. The key takeaways are: prioritize relationships, support mentors well, and build flexible systems that can adapt to real-world conditions.

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