The 2017 4-H Potato Grading and Identification Contest was held at the Pennsylvania Farm Show earlier this year.

Seventy-three 4-H members comprising 16 teams from Bradford, Dauphin, Indiana, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton and Union Counties, all tested their knowledge of spuds, in this exciting contest.

The contest was comprised of two divisions: basic and honors.

Those who competed in the honors division were winners from previous years.

Competitors in the basic division tested their skills at three stations.

The first station, a potato grading station, was a timed event where competitors challenged to see who could grade 100 potatoes in the shortest time.

Not only was quickness important but so was accuracy.

The second station was a defect station where competitors needed to accurately identify 20 different defects on 40 potatoes.

The third station was a plate”grading station. Five potatoes were put on each of four plates.

Each plate had to be evaluated on uniformity of size and shape and lack of defects.

The plates then were ranked in order. Two classes of plates were judged.

Those in honors had to complete the three stations in addition to the basic stations.

The fourth station was comprised of two more plate classes.

The fifth station was estimating the weights of two large potatoes.

At the sixth station, contestants had to pick a premium pack.

This means that out of 30 potatoes the 10 most uniform and defect-free potatoes had to be chosen.

This contest teaches and enhances life skills such as decision making, defending your answer, quickness and observation.

These skills are used for judging potatoes and are also used for judging livestock and other items in 4-H.

Enhancing the use of these skills helps prepare 4-H members for future careers and activities.

The Lehigh County “A” team placed third with team members Jonas Geiger, Marisa Berger, Sophia Vargas and Alaina Muller.

Lehigh County’s “B” team placed fourth with team members Kerigrace Hertzog, Sadie Berger, Jordan Wanamaker and Liana Panik.

In the honors division, Olivia Geiger of Lehigh placed first, Danielle Ford of Northampton placed second, and Grace Royer of Lehigh placed third.

Ian Royer of Lehigh placed fourth, Matthew Eyre placed fifth, and Maggie Durkin placed ninth out of 10 contestants.

The Cloverbuds included Adam Geiger and Konnor Weisner of Lehigh County.