Half Moon Bay, CA -- A new champion squashed the competition at the 30th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, yesterday (Oct. 13).

Farmer Steve Daletas of Pleasant Hill, Oregon, tipped the scales with his 1,180-pound-squash, setting a new festival record.

Daletas, who has been farming pumpkins competitively for five years, says the best advice to other farmers who are green at growing pumpkins is to "get to know a good grower. They're good with seeds."

Daletas' portly pumpkin will be on display in Half Moon Bay this weekend (Oct. 18 & 19). After that, he'll have to find a home for it, and Daletas admits he has no clue what he'll do with the monster vegetable.

One plan he does have is to take a trip with his wife using some of the $5,900 prize money, and then bury the rest in his pumpkin field by making improvements in the soil.

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