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Rhode Island farmer grows record 3,156-pound pumpkin

The Rhode Island pumpkin beat a record set only a week earlier and is said to be the first to clear three thousand pounds; there is no word on pie.

Photo: KENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
▶ As it aired · Weird News

Watch it as it aired: Chip Darnell and Hank Ledger on this story, from The Five O'Clock at 4:08 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are ABC News's, the jokes are ours.

Photo: Giant pumpkin
Photo: KENPEI · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0

At a glance

The real story

The reporting behind this segment. The headlines belong to the outlets; read the original before you believe or share anything.

What BBN said about it

  1. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorA farmer in Rhode Island has grown a pumpkin weighing three thousand one hundred fifty-six pounds, a new world record, ABC News reports.

  2. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe old record was two thousand eight hundred fifty-six pounds, and that one was set only a week earlier.

  3. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHank, I've looked at the photo twice and I'm calling it. That pumpkin has a lanai. Spiritually Florida.

  4. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorIt grew in Rhode Island. The farmer says the greenhouse made all the difference.

  5. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorA greenhouse! Warm, humid, a little bit of glass. That's basically Orlando in October.

  6. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe previous record came from Berkshire, England. Are you saying England is Florida too?

  7. Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorI'm saying the pumpkin gains fifty pounds a day and drinks a hundred gallons of water, which is a Tuesday in Tampa.

  8. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorFlorida Man Rating, one alligator, and only because of the greenhouse.

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The story so far

  1. Giant pumpkin record claim sits on a record under a month old · UPI
  2. Rhode Island farmer grows 3,156-pound pumpkin, a new record · The New York Times
  3. Rhode Island Farmer Grows Record-Breaking Pumpkin · The New York Times
  4. World's heaviest pumpkin tops 3,000 pounds, Rhode Island man sets… · USA Today
  5. 3,156-pound pumpkin grown in Rhode Island is inspected for possible… · Griffin Daily News
  6. Record pumpkin, Orange County wildfires, and weekend sports · Al Jazeera
  7. Rhode Island farmer grows record 3,156-pound pumpkin (this story)

From the archive: everything BBN aired on Tuesday, October 20, 2026 · the Weird News archive · all months