There’s big money and a limited number of records for growers of giant pumpkins. That’s why the “pumpkings” of the world gather at the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention to gain knowledge and share secrets about their niche field.
“I've learned more in the last three days than I have in the last 15 years of figuring it out,” said Jay Richard, Wyoming’s “Pumpkin King,” who attended the convention for the first time in 2025. “I thought by the third day of nothing but pumpkins, I'd be tired of them. That’s a solid no.”
Richard recognized and met with several of the 223 growers at this year’s convention, many of whom hold state, national, and world records for various giant crops.
He’s only interested in pushing the limits of Wyoming’s pumpkins, so the biggest growers didn’t mind sharing some trade secrets with “a mid-pack guy.”
“Somebody like me is no threat to a world record,” he said. “They’re very competitive at that level, and there’s a lot of money involved. But they’re also very helpful and eager to help anyone reach a higher level. It’s the right thing to do.”
Pumpkin Prom
The 2025 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention was held at Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Anyone who’s anyone in the niche field of giant pumpkins was there.
Richard recognized several growers from Utah, Colorado and Wyoming.
Andy Corbin, the Wyoming record-holder with a 2,062-pound giant he grew in Cheyenne in 2023, was also in Green Bay for the convention.
Another notable grower in attendance was Travis Gienger of Minnesota, who holds the world record for giant pumpkins at 2,749 pounds. Richard had met Gienger before and even attempted to grow a pumpkin with a seed from his world champion last year and got a chance to share an unsuccessful story with the world-record holder in Green Bay.
“It was an absolute failure for me,” Richard said. “I talked to him about what happened, and he shrugged his shoulders and said it probably wasn’t a good seed. You can’t look at a seed and tell if it’s good or not, but I believe between genetics and a whole bunch of grower error, it didn’t like where it was. That’s what you call winning or learning.”
So what do giant pumpkin growers talk about when they’re gathered together?
“Half the time, it’s soil temperature and biology, plant shape, and water,” Richard said. “And the other half of the time, it’s giving each other good-natured crap.”
There aren’t a lot of secrets in the giant pumpkin world, as most of the information growers need is readily available. Most of their tricks and techniques, but not all, are above ground for anyone to access.
Richard said some of the biggest growers tinker with techniques below ground that they can be skittish about sharing, but those are few and far between. There is no “secret silver formula” for growing the biggest pumpkin – it’s just meticulous tinkering, time, and investment.
“Everybody’s friends until the pumpkins go on the scale,” he said. “I was thinking why somebody would take 15 minutes out of their day to talk to me when they could be drinking a beer with their friends. But we all have the same goal, just at different scales.”
A patch of pumpkin growers at the 2025 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The giant pumpkin community is small, so all 223 growers at this year's convention are happy to share their stories of success and failure as they grow giant pumpkins. (Courtesy Jay Richard) 
The "big dogs" of the pumpkin growers community - Brandon Dawson, Steve Daletas, and Travis Gienger - at the 2025 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention. Gienger holds the world-record with a 2,749-pound pumpkin he grew in 2023, and all three growers took top places at the Safeway World Championships in 2024. (Courtesy Jay Richard) 
Andy Corbin on Cheyenne and Jay Richard of Worland were the Wyoming delegation at the recent 2025 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower's Convention in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Courtesy Jay Richard) 
At the 2025 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention, those who grow huge pumpkins learn how to grow them even bigger. (Courtesy Jay Richard) 
At the 2025 Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention, those who grow huge pumpkins learn how to grow them even bigger. (Courtesy Jay Richard) 
Giant pumpking grower Jay Richard of Worland, Wyoming, in the end zone at Lambeau Field. (Courtesy Jay Richard)
Misery’s Company
The last few years of Richard’s pumpkin-growing career have been full of highs and lows. After rubbing elbows and drinking beers with the best of the best, the comradery in the pumpkin-growing community never ceases to amaze.
“Nine out of 10 people have that story about a beast of a pumpkin that failed,” he said. “You have about a 50% success rate in getting something decent on the scale. So every grower has a story about how a mouse or raccoon ate a hole in it, or it split open, or a hail storm came through two weeks before it was ready.”
It’s not unlike fishermen swapping stories about “the big one that got away.” When you’re pushing the physical limits of nature, there’s bound to be big failures.
That’s why Richard felt comfortable sharing his stories of sadness with fellow growers. After all, misery loves company.
“There’s a lot of failure in our community,” he said. “It’s like drag racing: when you put your foot into the floor and hold it flat down, you see what it'll do. Everybody has those stories, and most are more than happy to share them with you, because misery loves company.”
Ground Level
The convention was more than a meet and greet. Experts gave presentations on various agricultural aspects critical for growing gargantuan crops.
Richard said all the presentations were engaging, even a soil scientist “talking about nine levels over my head.” He cited a talk by Joel Ailts, an agronomist and crop consultant from Wisconsin, which was particularly enlightening.
“I'd like to plug a USB cable into this guy and just download all his knowledge,” he said. “Ailts is one of the best authorities in the world to talk about growing giant pumpkins.”
Soil science is critical to maintaining a healthy growing pumpkin. Richard has known this for years, but said the convention helped him understand elements of the meticulous cultivation of subsurface biologics, soil health, and water movement.
2024 wasn’t a good year for Richard’s giant pumpkins. He called it a “shiny seed” adventure he won’t take again.
“That was a mistake all the way across,” he said. “This year’s seeds have been sitting on my desk for months, and I hope that by changing the genetics and the shape and configuration of the plant, I’m hoping to keep my plants healthier longer. That starts by applying some of what I learned at the convention into my soil.”
And not a moment too soon. Richard was planning on rototilling the soil inside his custom-built greenhouse in Worland, but he has some work to do before he gets to work.
“It’s dangerously close to the time when I rototill the cover crop in, and I’ve got some amendments to get done before that,” he said. “Right now, it’s just a beautiful yard. That work starts tomorrow.”
Top-Tier Here
For a first-time attendee, Richard said the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention was everything he could have hoped for. One of the presentations seemed individually catered to his plans for 2025.
“They had one of the top growers talk about growing on a scale,” he said. “I am going to do that for the first time this year. A friend from Vernal, Utah, isn’t going to grow a pumpkin this year and asked if I’d like to use his scale, so I got to make a quick trip to pick that up.”
Growing on a scale will allow Richard to monitor the weight of his immense pumpkin as it grows. He can then make informed decisions about what to do if his pumpkin suddenly loses or stops gaining weight, as it should add 45-50 pounds per day during the summer.
But Richard’s borrowing more than a scale from Utah. He’ll be investing his energy and knowledge into growing a seed from a giant Utah pumpkin, hoping its genetics will be better suited to gaining and maintaining weight in Wyoming’s climate.
“These pumpkins tend to like the higher elevation and shrug off the temperature fluctuations you don’t get in Minnesota, Illinois, or Ohio,” he said. “Just like people, some pumpkins don’t like dropping from 100 degrees during the day to 50 degrees overnight. These might not be top-tier necessarily, but they’re top-tier here.”
Informed Green Thumb On The Scale
Richard plans on planting his pumpkin seeds the first week of April. From there, it’ll be an intense labor of love for five months until his giant gourds are ready for the 2025 Wyoming State Pumpkin Championship Weight-Off and other regional pumpkin events.
After visiting Green Bay, Richard’s motivation and determination have been rekindled. Although his setbacks last year were disheartening, attending the conference reinvigorated him to get his hands even dirtier this season.
“I’m going to swing for the fence again, just like it did last year,” he said. “My goal is to grow a 2,000-pound pumpkin in Worland, so we need to swing hard. Sometimes you miss, but I’ll accept whatever comes. But it will get a 100% effort from me.”
Wyoming growers won’t have to travel too far to attend the next Great Pumpkin Commonwealth International Grower’s Convention. It’s being held in Utah in 2026.
“It won't take me three hours of driving, three airplanes, and a 12-hour layover in Denver to get there,” Richard said. “I have much more enthusiasm for this than I did last week. That’s the beautiful thing about growing big pumpkins. You can shake hands with the world-record holder and he’ll stop to take time and talk to you about the most basic things. I’ve got a lot to do.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
