The Largest Pumpkin In Utah History

It's the beginning of pumpkin spice season which has me considering the actual gourd, the pumpkin for which it's named.  

Utah has ranchers and farmers in abundance throughout the state and that also includes those who grow produce not just for eating but for competing. Things like tomatoes, squash, watermelon and of course pumpkin.  

So how well does Utah do when it comes to giant pumpkin contests? Pretty well, actually.  

The largest record of a pumpkin in the world came in 2023 from a Minnesota man who had a pumpkin the size of a hippo. It weighed 2,749 pounds! That is a LOT of pumpkin.  

Utah isn’t too far behind though. In 2022, a Bountiful man named Mohamed Sadiq won the Nut Tree World Championship in CA. His pumpkin weighed 2,287 pounds so about a 500-pound difference from the world record so far.  

Before that, Ross Bowman of Brigham City won in 2021 with a 2,142-pound pumpkin. From 2010 to 2017 Matt McConkie of Mountain Green held the title of largest pumpkin in Utah, though his pumpkins never reached more than 1,974-pounds.  

In fact, it seems that between 1990 and 2005 in Utah no one's pumpkins reached into the thousands. For whatever reason, pumpkins and squash have just become heavier and heavier as the years go by.  

If the world record is anything to go by, Utah is right on track as far as weight goes. With gentle care and an eye for detail, maybe a Utahn can one day grow the biggest pumpkin on record.