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Mechanical damage during the potato harvesting process contributes to 70% of the total damage in the overall potato production system. To optimise the design of the soil-potato sorting system in potato harvesting machines, it is informative to study the dynamics and kinematics of the soil-potato sorting processes using the discrete element method (DEM). In this study, the equivalent Young's modulus of two potato cultivars, Dutch15 and Gansu, was determined through quasi-static loading experiments. Subsequently, a contact force model was developed using impact information (force, displacement, and displacement rate) obtained from a pendulum device to accurately represent the viscoelastic–plastic behaviour of potatoes. Finally, a comparison was conducted to validate the performance of the newly developed model. The results indicate that the newly developed model (R 2 = 0.91 ± 0.06) outperforms the Kuwabara and Kono model (KK-model) (R 2 = 0.49 ± 0.09) and the Yigit–Cristoforou model (YC-model) (R 2 = 0.28 ± 0.13) in terms of fitting force-deformation profiles. The fitted novel model provides valuable insights into the internal force variations within potatoes during collisions. • A model was developed to illustrate the viscoelastic–plastic behaviour of potatoes. • The equivalent dissipation parameters for the developed model were determined. • A comparison was conducted to validate the performance of the new model. • The developed model has a good ability on force-deformation fitting (R 2 = 0.91). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]