🌾 Agriculture

Bushels to Pounds

Convert bushels to pounds, kilograms and metric tonnes for common grain and produce commodities. Choose the crop, enter an amount, then press Convert.

Written and reviewed by SM Arijul Islam · Last reviewed 29 October 2026 · Editorial standards · Report an error

About the Bushels to Pounds

A bushel is a volume — 35.239 litres or 1.244 cubic feet — but in agricultural trade it is almost always used as a weight. The conversion depends on the commodity: a bushel of wheat is 60 lb, corn is 56 lb, barley is 48 lb and oats is 32 lb. Those are legal market standards, not measurements of a particular scoop.

Because the bushel is a volume, test weight matters. A light crop may still fill a bushel but weigh less, and buyers discount it accordingly. The weights here are the standard bushel weights used for contracts and price quotes in the US.

How the calculation works

Pounds = bushels × commodity bushel weight.
Kilograms = pounds × 0.45359237.
Metric tonnes = kilograms ÷ 1,000.
1 bushel = 35.2391 L = 1.24446 ft³.

Reference values

US standard bushel weights
Commodity	Pounds per bushel	Kilograms per bushel
Wheat	60 lb	27.22 kg
Corn / maize	56 lb	25.40 kg
Soybeans	60 lb	27.22 kg
Barley	48 lb	21.77 kg
Oats	32 lb	14.51 kg
Rye	56 lb	25.40 kg
Rice (rough)	45 lb	20.41 kg
Potatoes	60 lb	27.22 kg

Worked example: wheat and corn by the bushel

A 1,000-bushel load of wheat is 60,000 lb, or 27.2 tonnes. The same 1,000 bushels of corn is 56,000 lb, or 25.4 tonnes. At $6 per bushel, the wheat is worth $6,000; the price is per bushel, not per pound, so the weight difference does not change the quoted value.

That is the peculiarity of agricultural bushels: the unit is a volume, but trade uses a standard weight per bushel for each commodity. Test weight can move the actual weight of a load, and buyers may discount grain that falls below the standard. Use the contract's stated bushel weight when the money depends on it.

Frequently asked questions

Why is a bushel of corn 56 lb but wheat 60 lb?

The bushel is a volume, and each commodity has a customary test weight. The standards were fixed by trade convention and are now written into grading rules.

Is this the same as a bushel of apples?

No. Apples are often sold by a 40 lb bushel box or by count, and the weight varies with size and variety. Use the commodity standard for the crop you have.

Does moisture change the weight?

Yes. Grain is traded at a standard moisture content, and wet grain is dried or discounted. The bushel weights here assume standard moisture.

Why is a bushel of corn lighter than a bushel of wheat?

The bushel is a volume, but the legal bushel weight is a commodity standard based on test weight. Corn and wheat pack differently, so the same volume has a different standard weight.

Sources and standards

A bushel is a measure of volume, 35.2391 L in the US customary system, so the weight of a bushel depends entirely on what is in it. The USDA publishes official test weights per commodity, which is why this page asks for a commodity rather than assuming one density for grain.