UACES Facebook 4-H young growers deliver supersized fair entries
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4-H young growers deliver supersized fair entries

By Tracy Courage
U of A System Division of Agriculture

Fast Facts:

  • Top pumpkin tipped scales at 491.5 pounds.
  • Top watermelon weighed 145 pounds.

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(Art available at https://flic.kr/p/2hzUpwD)

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas 4-H members showed up Oct. 12 at the Arkansas State Fair ready to collect prizes for the fruits of their labors - specifically their pumpkins and watermelons.

Prize-winning pumpkin
GIANT PUMPKIN -- 10-year-old Buster Passmore of Greene County won this year's pumpkin contest at the Arkansas State Fair by a landslide, delivering a 491.5-pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin. (Image courtesy Greene County Cooperative Extension Service.)

Ten-year-old Buster Passmore from Greene County won the giant pumpkin contest by a landslide, delivering a 491.5-pound Atlantic Giant pumpkin. Buster and his dad, Mark, used a tractor and a system of straps to load the pumpkin onto a pallet and into their pick-up truck. Once at the fair, a forklift was used to unload it, and six men hoisted the pumpkin off the pallet.

The pumpkin then presented a new problem for judges, whose scale maxed out at 400 lbs.

Clay Wingfield, program technician at the Southwest Research and Extension Center in Hope, chairs the annual Giant Pumpkin and Watermelon Contest and said he could not recall a pumpkin bigger than Buster’s in recent years.

“It’s the biggest one I’ve ever grown,” said Buster, who has a Facebook page “Buster’s Garden” with more than 3,700 followers. Asked for his secret to growing big pumpkins, Buster said, “I do have a green thumb. And the other secret … well, it’s a secret.”

Colby Daniell, a Clark County 4-H member, won the giant watermelon contest for the third time with a 145-pound melon. This year’s top 10 watermelon weights ranged from 25 to 145 pounds.

Owen Staton, 12, of Logan County, brought a 46-pound melon to the fair last year but returned with an 82-pounder this year, placing third. He planted his seeds June 15 and picked the melon the day before the fair, allowing it maximum time to grow.

The competitions were open to the top five winners in each county in the state, and the pumpkins and watermelons had to be grown by kids aged nine to 19 years old.

The top 10 winners in each contest are as follows:

Pumpkin category

  1. Buster Passmore, Greene County, 491.5 lbs.
  2. Carson Webster, Logan County, 101 lbs.
  3. Hudson Tritch, Green County, 99 lbs.
  4. Brayden Reedy, White County, 79 lbs.
  5. Reesie Tritch, Green County, 67 lbs.
  6. Ayden Rhinehart, Logan County, 62.5 lbs.
  7. Robby Reedy, White County, 57 lbs.
  8. Leah Brewster, Cleburne County, 54 lbs.
  9. Anna Brewster, Cleburne County, 25.5 lbs.
  10. Carlee Nguyen, Cross County, 10 lbs.

Watermelon category

  1. Colby Daniell, Clark County,145 lbs.
  2. Brady Daniell, Clark County, 137.5 lbs.
  3. Owen Staton, Logan County, 82 lbs.
  4. Adalyn Staton, Logan County, 75 lbs.
  5. Ayden Rhinehart, Logan County, 72.5 lbs.
  6. Ivy Staton, Logan County, 71.5 lbs.
  7. Robby Reedy, White County, 54 lbs.
  8. Caiden Garner, Logan County, 50 lbs.
  9. Reesie Tritch, Green County, 27 lbs.
  10. Anna Brewster, Cleburne County, 25 lbs.

To learn more about 4-H and youth development in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent, or visit https://www.uaex.uada.edu/4h-youth/default.aspx. Follow the Cooperative Extension Service on Twitter at @uaex_edu. 

 

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Media Contact: Tracy Courage
Dir. of Extension Communication Services
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2126
tcourage@uada.edu

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