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It’s a great pumpkin, Travis Gienger!

Minnesota man repeats as champion pumpkin grower.

Kevin Schulz, Editor

October 30, 2024

2 Min Read
Travis Gienger and Mohamed Sadiq with their giant pumpkin
SITTING ON A WINNER: Travis Gienger (left) and Mohamed Sadiq, a grower who had the Utah state pumpkin record, check out Rudy the pumpkin in Gienger’s plot in Minnesota. This was just prior to the pumpkin being loaded for the trip to Half Moon Bay, Calif., for the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in October. Courtesy of Travis Gienger

Travis Gienger rode a pumpkin called Rudy to claim his fourth title at this year’s World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off Oct. 14 in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

This year’s champion gourd weighs in at 2,471 pounds, 6 pounds more than the second-place pumpkin, but off the mark of Gienger’s 2023 entry that amassed 2,749 pounds. Last year’s pumpkin garnered Gienger the record for world’s heaviest pumpkin. Along with the first-place honor, Gienger receives $9 per pound for bringing in the largest pumpkin.

Though he retained the top spot for largest pumpkin, he is “very disappointed” that Rudy wasn’t another world record. “It was only 5 inches smaller, which is pretty similar in size,” he says, “but it just didn’t weigh it. … I think the cold, wet weather caused that because I wasn’t able to fertilize and feed like usual.”

Gienger is a part-time turf and golf course management instructor at Anoka Technical College, and he says he gave this year’s pumpkin the name Rudy because “we had some troubles early on and needed a comeback story,” he says. “One vine cracked, and one pumpkin didn’t set.”

Just as with farmers’ corn and soybean crops, starting with good seed sets the course for a successful pumpkin crop. Seed to grow Rudy came from the same lot that grew his 2023 record-setter.

Even with that good seed, Gienger says the growing season offered less-than-ideal growing conditions. “Cold nights hurt bad, it was wet so I couldn’t feed, and storms throttled us this spring and in August,” he says. “I was just lucky to get there” as the growing conditions resulted in fungal issues.

Leaning on his horticulture background, Gienger tries “everything” to achieve record-sized pumpkins. “We’re using just a ton of different soil biologicals in microbes to get these things cranking, and I think that was the difference,” he says. “Micronutrients are huge. But not only the micronutrients, but the mycorrhizae, Bacillus, Trichoderma for disease prevention.” He says a person could easily spend $2,000 per plant to achieve world status.

After the pumpkin weigh-off, Rudy was purchased by Todd Graves, owner and founder of Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers fast food chain. According to Gienger, Rudy made its way to Los Angeles, where a New York team of professional carvers from the Food Network began sculpting on Oct. 27.

About the Author

Kevin Schulz

Editor, The Farmer

Kevin Schulz joined The Farmer as editor in January of 2023, after spending two years as senior staff writer for Dakota Farmer and Nebraska Farmer magazines. Prior to joining these two magazines, he spent six years in a similar capacity with National Hog Farmer. Prior to joining National Hog Farmer, Schulz spent a long career as the editor of The Land magazine, an agricultural-rural life publication based in Mankato, Minn.

During his tenure at The Land, the publication grew from covering 55 Minnesota counties to encompassing the entire state, as well as 30 counties in northern Iowa. Covering all facets of Minnesota and Iowa agriculture, Schulz was able to stay close to his roots as a southern Minnesota farm boy raised on a corn, soybean and hog finishing farm.

One particular area where he stayed close to his roots is working with the FFA organization.

Covering the FFA programs stayed near and dear to his heart, and he has been recognized for such coverage over the years. He has received the Minnesota FFA Communicator of the Year award, was honored with the Minnesota Honorary FFA Degree in 2014 and inducted into the Minnesota FFA Hall of Fame in 2018.

Schulz attended South Dakota State University, majoring in agricultural journalism. He was also a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity and now belongs to its alumni organization.

His family continues to live on a southern Minnesota farm near where he grew up. He and his wife, Carol, have raised two daughters: Kristi, a 2014 University of Minnesota graduate who is married to Eric Van Otterloo and teaches at Mankato (Minn.) East High School, and Haley, a 2018 graduate of University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She is married to John Peake and teaches in Hayward, Wis. 

When not covering the agriculture industry on behalf of The Farmer's readers, Schulz enjoys spending time traveling with family, making it a quest to reach all 50 states — 47 so far — and three countries. He also enjoys reading, music, photography, playing basketball, and enjoying nature and campfires with friends and family.

[email protected]

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