Minnesota man breaks US record with 2,560-pound pumpkin and wins World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Half Moon Bay

Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota set the new record, winning an annual pumpkin weighing contest in Northern California.

HALF MOON BAY, California — A Minnesota horticulture teacher set a new U.S. record for heaviest pumpkin Monday after raising a giant pumpkin weighing 2,560 pounds.

Travis Gienger of Anoka, Minnesota set the new record, winning an annual pumpkin weighing contest in Northern California.

“Minnesota is having a great mid-year, but our spring in our parts is really, really tough. So doing it in Minnesota just shouldn’t happen,” Gienger said. “It’s like winning the Tour de France on a Ferris wheel. You know, one can only hope, but it worked.”

Gienger drove the giant pumpkin for 35 hours to see his hard work pay off at the 49th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-In at Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

“Do you think it’s bad to drive in a snowstorm? Try driving one of these things,” he said.

Gienger, who also won the same 2020 competition in Northern California, broke a record in New York last week, where a grower grew a giant pumpkin weighing 2,554 pounds.

A grower in Italy holds the world record for the heaviest pumpkin. According to Guinness World Records, he grew a 2,702-pound pumpkin in 2021.