A new U.S. record for the heaviest pumpkin was set on Monday after a horticulture teacher from Minnesota raised a giant gourd weighing 2,560 pounds.
Travis Geinger, of Anoka, Minnesota set the new record while also winning the competition at the Safeway 49th Annual World Championship Pumpkin Weight-Off held in Half Moon Bay, California.
This year, weigh-off organizers and title sponsor Safeway offered the world’s biggest top prize of $9/pound for the 2022 champion and a $30,000 mega-prize for a new world record pumpkin.
Gienger, who also won the same contest in 2020, drove his enormous pumpkin more than 35 hours to the event.
According to Guinness World Records, a grower in Italy holds the world record for the heaviest pumpkin. He grew a 2,702-pound squash in 2021.
