Article — Grain Conversion Calculator
Bushels to pounds, kilograms, and tons
A bushel is a volume — exactly 1.2444 cubic feet or 35.2391 liters — not a weight. Pounds per bushel depend on the grain: corn 56, wheat 60, soybeans 60, barley 48, oats 32. Multiplying bushels by that test weight gives pounds; dividing by 2,204.62 gives metric tons.
Every US farmer, grain elevator, and export contract uses these conversions hourly. The numbers feel arbitrary until you remember they were locked in by 19th-century US grain trade practice and have not moved since.
What a bushel actually is
A US bushel is defined by volume: 2,150.42 cubic inches, which is 1.2444 cubic feet or 35.2391 liters. The number comes from the Winchester bushel, a 15th-century English unit that arrived in colonial America and was confirmed by Congress in 1836. Britain switched to a slightly larger imperial bushel in 1824. The United States and Canada (for some grains) still use the Winchester unit.
Because a bushel is a volume, the weight of one bushel depends on the density of what you put in it. Corn kernels pack denser than oats; soybeans pack heavier than barley. Each grain has a USDA standard test weight that defines how many pounds a bushel container holds when filled by gravity.
The grain conversion formula
The core math is one multiplication: pounds = bushels × test weight. For a bushel of corn at 56 lb/bu, 1,000 bushels equals 56,000 pounds. From there, divide by 2.20462 to get kilograms (25,401 kg) and by 2,204.62 to get metric tons (25.4 t).
Working in reverse, divide pounds by the test weight to get bushels. 100,000 lb of wheat at 60 lb/bu is 1,667 bushels. 50 metric tons of soybeans is 50,000 / 27.22 = 1,837 bushels, since 1 bushel of soybeans equals 27.22 kg.
The bushel test weight standards predate the United States. The 60 lb wheat bushel comes from English statute, codified in the 1696 Act for Ascertaining the Measures for Retailing Ale and Beer. The 56 lb corn bushel was added in the 19th century as US grain trade grew up around maize.
Bushels by grain type
USDA publishes test weights for every commodity grain traded in the US. Corn, sorghum, and rye all share the 56 lb bushel — historical convenience, not coincidence. Wheat and soybeans share 60 lb. Barley sits at 48 lb. Oats, the bulkiest of the major grains, are 32 lb.
- Corn = 56 lb/bu = 25.40 kg/bu
- Wheat = 60 lb/bu = 27.22 kg/bu
- Soybeans = 60 lb/bu = 27.22 kg/bu
- Barley = 48 lb/bu = 21.77 kg/bu
- Oats = 32 lb/bu = 14.51 kg/bu
- Sorghum, rye = 56 lb/bu = 25.40 kg/bu
- Rough rice = 45 lb/bu = 20.41 kg/bu
Test weight, explained
Test weight is the weight of grain that fits in a standard Winchester bushel container — fundamentally a measure of how densely the kernels pack. Higher test weight usually means denser, drier, better-filled grain. Corn moving from 56 to 50 lb/bu generally signals drought stress, immature fill, or high moisture.
For contracts, test weight matters because grain elevators discount low-test-weight loads. Below 54 lb/bu, US corn typically takes a 1-3% price discount; below 50 lb/bu, discounts deepen. EU minimums for milling-grade wheat sit at 76 kg/hL (the European unit), which is roughly 59 lb/bu.
Metric versus imperial grain units
The US, Canada, and the UK use bushels in agriculture. Most other grain exporters and importers use metric tons. The European Union uses kilograms per hectoliter (kg/hL) for density: 1 hectoliter = 100 liters = 2.838 US bushels. A wheat test weight of 60 lb/bu = 27.22 kg/bu = 27.22 / 2.838 × 10 = 76.6 kg/hL.
Bushels to metric tons in one step
For everyday math, learn the one-step shortcut. Corn at 56 lb/bu: metric tons = bushels × 0.0254. Wheat and soybeans at 60 lb/bu: metric tons = bushels × 0.0272. So 1,000 bushels of corn = 25.4 t, and 1,000 bushels of wheat or soybeans = 27.2 t.
Corn bu × 0.0254Wheat / soy bu × 0.0272Barley bu × 0.0218Oats bu × 0.0145Grain conversion in export trade
Export contracts quote prices in different units depending on the destination. US Gulf exports of corn list in dollars per metric ton FOB. Domestic corn at the elevator runs in dollars per bushel. Convert by dividing dollars-per-ton by 39.37 (bushels per metric ton of corn) to compare. $260/ton corn = $6.60/bu.
Vessel charters work the same way. A handysize bulker carrying 25,000 metric tons of soybeans is loading about 918,000 bushels. The 1.2% loss-in-transit clause in shipping insurance applies whether you state the cargo in tons or bushels — both convert through the test weight.
For a quick sanity check on any corn deal: bushels times 25.4 gives kilograms; bushels times 0.0254 gives metric tons. If the math feels off by a factor of 10 or 1,000, you have used the wrong unit somewhere in the chain.
Common conversion mistakes
Three errors come up repeatedly. First, applying corn test weight (56) to wheat or soybeans (60) — a 7% error that compounds across thousands of bushels. Second, confusing US tons (2,000 lb) with metric tons (2,204.62 lb), a 10% discrepancy. Third, forgetting that bushel weights vary with moisture — quoted test weight assumes 15% moisture for corn, 13.5% for wheat, 13% for soybeans.
Wet grain weighs more per bushel than dry grain of the same crop. A bushel of 20% moisture corn weighs about 4 lb more than the standard 56 lb because the extra water adds mass. Most elevators dock for excess moisture, dropping the settlement weight back toward the standard. Always check the moisture-adjusted weight on the scale ticket, not the gross weight.
Most of these mistakes only matter when money changes hands. For estimating storage and freight, the standard test weights are accurate enough. For settlement, get the actual moisture and test weight from the elevator scale ticket, and ask which adjustment formula the elevator uses (USDA standard or contract-specific). The differences are small but real on large loads.