Gathering in the Potato Department area of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex on Tuesday morning prior to this year’s potato judging contest were (from left) 4-H adviser Cynthia Williams and team members Gracie Mosier, Ariana Cook, Averie Cook, Monroe Bellows, Noelle Rogers, Braylee Brimmer, and Rachel Fritsch. Rachel has been on the team the longest.
Story and photo by Rick Hiduk
(originally published in the Daily Review)
After taking first place in Potato Judging at the 2024 Farm Show with both their A Team and one of two B teams, some members of the Bradford County 4-H spud testers opted out of competing again this year in favor of other projects and extracurricular activities closer to home. Nonetheless, this was the sixth time that Bradford County has been represented at the event.
“They’re just taking a break this year,” long-time coach and 4-H adviser Cynthia Williams said of those who did not return. She took the transition in stride and instead looked at this year’s competition as an opportunity to boost the experience of younger members and motivate them for future such events. “We’ll be back stronger next year,” Williams maintained.
The potato judging event is one of many geared specifically to youths at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. And, while the competition certainly is unique, its organizers suggest that lessons learned through quickly scanning and rating spuds carry into real-life situations.
“They learn decision-making skills, quick identification, better communication, and team work,” PA 4-H educator and contest chairperson Kelly Weisner offered as examples. “Some of the kids apply the skills to other forms of judging like livestock. In addition, we talk to them about career options that are related.”
The contest is set up to simulate that which would happen at a county fair, as well as how farmers grade their own produce before it goes to market. The members of each team go through three stations. At the first, they encounter four plates on which there are five potatoes each.
“They have to identify which plates are the nicest and rank them in order as if they were at a fair,” Weisner explained. Next, they sort through 40 potatoes looking for 20 specific defects, which include rot, fungus, pitting, softness, cleanliness, and odd sizes. Then they grade a final group of potatoes in a search for the limited number of US Grade #1 spuds in the batch.
Six-year veteran team member Rachel Fritsch, who says that taking part in the challenge is as much about making new friends and memories, was able to recruit a few new participants this year among Braylee Brimmer, a fifth-grader at the Grace Christian Academy, and Gracie Mosier, a home-schooled sixth grader.
“I gave a presentation on potato judging at a meeting of the Endless Mountains 4-H Club in Athens last March,” Rachel related. “They showed interest right from the start.”
This year marked Gracie’s first-ever visit to the Farm Show. Braylee had attended the Show once just to see what it was about, but this was the first year she participated in any way.
One of those who was ready to move up the ranks, even though she will age out of the program at the end of this year is Noelle Rogers, a senior at Towanda Area High School. It was her second year as a judge after a fellow 4-H’er told her about the youths’ spud analysis practices and contests. “I thought that it looked cool,” Noelle offered. “I had fun last year and wanted to do it again.”
Overall, there were 178 youths participating this year, and it remains one of the fastest growing 4-H competitions at the Farm Show.
The Bradford County A Team – consisting of Monroe Bellows, Averie Cook, and Noelle – placed 11th out of 15. This was the first year any of the three had been on an A team, Williams explained. Entered as Bradford County’s B Team, Gracie and Braylee, were paired with two young ladies from Lehigh County and placed fourth out of nine teams.
Having experience already as members of a winning A team, Rachel and Ariana Cook competed individually in the Honors Division, placing seventh and eighth, respectively.
While they were at the Farm Show, the potato judgers combed the 4-H Family Living exhibit area to learn that they and other 4-H members had placed as follows: Kathryn Donnelly-Taylor got a second place in animal posters at the Advanced Level; Ryder Tewksbury took second place with a 4-H Health Safety display; and Miranda Conrad placed second with a framed collage picture at the Beginner Level and third place with a framed sketch, also at the Beginner Level.
In the days before the potato judging contest, Monroe got a fourth-place ribbon with the first turkey she ever took to the Farm Show. Ariana, who has been showing rabbits for a number of years, garnered a Best of Variety ribbon for her senior buck named Cole and second place in the Rabbit Poster contest.