That’s a lot of pies! Monster pumpkin breaks world record

Travis Gienger, 43, a horticulture teacher from Anoka, Minnesota broke the world record

The world record for the heaviest pumpkin has been smashed by a monster squash weighing 2,749 pounds.

Travis Gienger, 43, a horticulture teacher from Anoka, Minnesota, won the 50th World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-off in Half Moon Bay, California on Monday with a pumpkin that could fill at least 687 pies.

The winning pumpkin earned the green-thumbed competitor $30,000 in prize money.

The previous record was set by a pumpkin grower in Italy who produced a 2,702lb squash in 2021, according to The Guinness World Records.

Mr Gienger has a backyard pumpkin patch and waters them up to 12 times a day, he said, as well as fertilising the above-average crop.

The horticulturalist has been growing pumpkins since he was a teenager after being taught by his father.

Mr Gienger first entered Half Moon Bay’s annual pumpkin weigh-off in 2020 and has won three years in a row.

He set the record for the biggest pumpkin in the US in 2022 with a 2,560lb squash, according to ABC7, before taking the world record this year.

“I was not expecting that. It was quite the feeling,” said Mr Gienger. “I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town.”

A new scale had to be installed in anticipation for Mr Gienger’s huge pumpkin (Eric Risberg / AP)

The California competition attracts pumpkin competitors from across the US.

This year, festival organisers invested in a new industrial weighing scale that can hold up to five tons, according to ABC7, in expectation of Mr Gienger’s arrival.

"This thing’s been surprising, this thing is named Michael Jordan because it’s 23 and the greatest basketball player of all time so only thing we gotta figure out is if it’s the greatest pumpkin of all time," he told the outlet.

The record-breaking pumpkin will be on display at Half Moon Bay’s Art and Pumpkin Festival until 14 and 15 October.