For Immediate Release
14 February 2006
Contact: Steven Tucker, 518 327-3408, potatofarmer@westelcom.com
Tom Tucker, 518 327-5054, adkspud@hotmail.com

Tucker Farms wins state potato contest
Tucker Farms, Inc., a well-known potato farm in Gabriels, has won the Eastern Division Grand Championship in the statewide potato Consumer Package Contest for the second time in three years. The award recognizes superior quality potatoes marketed at the retail level and helps growers better understand national packaging standards.

The contest is sponsored by the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, the NYS Vegetable Growers Association and the Empire State Potato Growers, Inc. Judging is conducted by NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets inspectors who examine random selections from eligible growers for uniformity of size, grade defects and general appearance as well as the package labels and markings. To be eligible, potatoes must be produced and packed in New York and marketed to groceries, restaurants and directly to consumers.

Tucker Farms is a family-owned business specializing in certified and foundation seed potatoes sold to commercial growers and gardeners throughout the east coast and upper Midwest. Tablestock potatoes are distributed locally for retail sale. Among the nine varieties of potatoes currently being grown are white-, red- and yellow-skinned varieties as well as three specialty varieties. The latter includes the blue-skinned, purple-fleshed variety All Blue and a recent Cornell University release called Adirondack Blue. Another recent Cornell release is the Adirondack Red variety, a red-skinned, red-fleshed potato which may be the best tasting potato you’ll ever eat. Their tablestock potatoes are packaged and sold under the TuckerTatersTM brand name. This year’s winner was the versatile and reliable Hampton variety.

Since winning in 2004, Steve and Tom Tucker redesigned the TuckerTatersTM packaging to prominently display healthy nutritional information for potatoes, the Tucker Farms website address www.tuckertaters.com, the Pride of New YorkTM logo and several other improvements which in addition to the usual high quality of their potatoes may have sealed the win.

Steve and Tom Tucker are the fifth generation to grow potatoes and other vegetables on this recognized NYS Agricultural Society Century Farm. Their great-uncle Frank Hobart won the grand champion of show three times for his Green Mountain potatoes during the 1930s. Don Tucker, recently retired, sold potatoes to stores and restaurants throughout the Tri-Lakes since the 1940s. Two years ago, Steve and Tom launched agri-tourism at the farm with the increasingly popular Great Adirondack Corn MazeTM and farm tours.

The award was presented at the Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo in Liverpool, NY on Tuesday, February 14, 2006.

Tucker Farms, Inc.
PO Box 8
Gabriels, NY 12939
Website: www.tuckertaters.com