Cheyenne pumpkin growers Andy and Amy Corbin broke Wyoming’s state record for the fourth consecutive time Saturday with a 2,224-pound pumpkin.
The Corbins brought their record holder to the 2026 Annual Pumpkin Weigh-Off at the Fort Collins Nursery in Colorado. It’s the third time they've broken the state pumpkin record they set.
“I was hoping for a little bit more, but I'll take it,” Andy Corbin told Cowboy State Daily. “Anytime you meet your goal, making a personal best, it’s always a good feeling. We were both ecstatic.”
In The Weeds
The Corbins have had an interesting growing season. While they usually grow their pumpkins in pristine conditions under their high tunnels, their personal-best pumpkin grew in a patch thick with dandelions.
“Pumpkin growers are wondering how we even get a pumpkin that big with that many weeds in there,” he said. “We have so many weeds in there right now.”
The dandelions were allowed to fester because Andy didn’t have the time or energy to weed as fastidiously and continuously as he had in years past. With abundant moisture and shelter from the elements, the dandelions grew so dense they formed a forest that shrouded the giant pumpkin.
By the time the Corbins resolved to remove the weeds, it was too late. They realized removing them would do more harm than good.
“Every time we pulled weeds, it actually hurt us,” he said. “The weeds were so big that the pumpkin roots were intertwined with the weeds themselves.”
The Corbins will need to thoroughly weed before planting the next seed. The high tunnel will need to be steamed or covered with weed fabric to exorcise it of dandelions.
Still, the abundance of weeds didn’t stop them from growing another giant gourd.
Almost Too Big
Even in the weeds, the Corbins had an informed hunch that one of their 2026 pumpkins could break the state record. They’ve been there before.
In 2022, the Corbins set the Wyoming state record with a 1,854-pound pumpkin. They set a record again in 2023 with a 2,062-pound pumpkin.
In 2025, the Corbins set another state record with a 2,085-pound pumpkin, but it was a bit disappointing.
“We were thinking we’d get at least 2,350 pounds on the scale,” he said. “Coming up 17% lighter was pretty disappointing.”
This year, the Corbins tempered their expectations as they watched their behemoth grow. They didn’t even pre-weigh it.
“I wanted it to be a complete surprise,” Andy said. “We did not deserve the results we got.”
When it came time to lift and load their pumpkin, the signs of another heavyweight were immediately evident.
“The gentleman who usually moves our pumpkins had hip surgery that week, so our neighbor said his tractor is even bigger and has a better bucket capacity,” he said. “He felt pretty confident, and the first time we tried it, it couldn't do it.”
The neighbor put an 800-pound implement on the tractor to give it more torque. That didn’t work either.
“Then I'm like, ‘OK, this is something pretty special,’” Andy said.
Finally, a skid steer from Workman Fencing in Cheyenne rolled up to the high tunnel, lifted the pumpkin, and got it ready for its trip to Colorado.
Andy asked the operator for a ballpark guess on the pumpkin’s weight.
“He lifts concrete pallets around, so I asked,” he said. “He thought it could be north of 2,500 pounds, so then my hopes really got up.”
Patch Work
When the Corbins placed their pumpkin on the scale at Nick’s Garden Center, it weighed 2,224 pounds. They set a Wyoming record, beating their 2025 pumpkin by 139 pounds at the same event in Aurora, Colorado.
In addition to a personal best, the Corbins achieved their goal: Entering the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth’s 2200 Pound Club.
“Hitting 2,200 pounds is a big deal,” Andy said. “You get a special patch and recognition at the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth conference, and we really wanted it.”
Less than 50 growers have achieved this rarefied distinction. Now, the Corbins can count themselves among them.
It wasn’t even their only giant pumpkin of the season.
A pumpkin they took to the annual Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Nick’s Garden Center in Aurora, Colorado, stole the show at 2,060 pounds.
“That one I was OK with,” he said. “The one I was disappointed in was the one we took to Rapid City the week before.”
At the Great Downtown Pumpkin Festival in Rapid City, South Dakota, the Corbins’ third giant pumpkin of the year came in at only 1,500 pounds.
That’s paltry by the couple’s pumpkin standards. Still, you can’t win them all, and their biggest and best was still growing while they took its siblings off the vine.
“You don’t know until you get a weight on it,” Andy said.
Where To Go, What To Do
The Corbins were planning to take a year off from pumpkin growing in 2027. Now, with a new personal best, a new state record, and entry into the 2200 Pound Club, they’re left wondering what else they can achieve.
“If we can get 2,200, maybe we can get 2,500,” Andy said. “Now that the world record's out there at 3,000 plus, I'm going to have to up my game.”
A world record was set at the annual Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers Weigh-Off on Saturday, the same day the Corbins set the state record.
Ron Wallace of Greene, Rhode Island, grew a 3,156-pound pumpkin. He is also the first person to officially enter the 2022 Pound Club.
Andy saw that record and immediately started thinking about what he could have done differently to get there – or close.
“I'm a strong believer that what you do in the fall for the patch prep is how well you succeed in the pumpkin season the following year,” he said. “We've been doing it long enough, so we kind of have a lot of that dialed in, but not to 3,000 pounds.”
That would probably require a greenhouse, like the one Jay Richard has set up in Worland. High tunnels can only get you so far, after all.
For now, the big question is what one does with a 2,224-pound pumpkin. Its fate remains unknown to everyone, including the Corbins, but it’ll get the celebrity treatment for the next month.
“We’re going to bring it to the Cheyenne Church of Christ’s Trunk or Treat event,” Andy said. “Having the largest pumpkin there will be a draw, and it'll be good to share it with the whole community.”
After that, the Corbins will probably grind their latest state-record pumpkin into compost, once they salvage its seeds, and spread it in the pumpkin patch to prepare for next year.
Andy repeated that there won’t be a next year, so he and Amy can get a well-earned break from doting over pumpkins for a season. Their 2,224-pound success, and the good-natured goading of their pumpkin peers, have them considering their options.
“We’ll have to do something to get to that next level, and all the other guys are encouraging us to do that,” he said. “Everybody encourages each other and helps each other out. It’s a great hobby.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
