HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A Minnesota horticulture teacher set a world record in California on Monday for the heaviest pumpkin after growing a giant jack-o'-lantern gourd weighing 2,749 pounds (1,247 kilograms).
Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota, won the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, with an enormous, lumpy, orange pumpkin that could produce at least 687 pies.
The previous world record for heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 2,702-pound (1,226-kilogram) squash in 2021, according to Guinness World Records.
He first competed in Half Moon Bay's annual weigh-off in 2020 and has won three of the city's last four giant pumpkin contests.
The pumpkin champ won a $30,000 prize for growing the biggest pumpkin and setting a world record.
Persons:
Travis Gienger, ”, Gienger, “
Organizations:
Guinness World Records, Anoka Technical College, Pumpkin
Locations:
Calif, Minnesota, California, Anoka , Minnesota, , California, U.S, Italy