Bushels to tonnes, by crop

A bushel is a measure of volume, standardised as a weight in pounds that differs for every crop. That is why a tonne of canola is 44 bushels and a tonne of oats is nearly 65.

Bushel weight and conversion factors

Standard bushel weights. Multiply tonnes by the third column to get bushels.
Crop	lb per bushel	bushels per tonne	tonnes per bushel
Canola, rapeseed	50	44.09	0.02268
Wheat, spring and durum	60	36.74	0.02722
Soybeans	60	36.74	0.02722
Field peas, lentils	60	36.74	0.02722
Barley	48	45.93	0.02177
Corn	56	39.37	0.02540
Grain sorghum	56	39.37	0.02540
Flax	56	39.37	0.02540
Oats, Canada	34	64.84	0.01542
Oats, United States	32	68.89	0.01451
Rye	56	39.37	0.02540
Sunflower, oil type	25	88.18	0.01134

Oats is the one that catches people out. Canada uses a 34 pound bushel, the United States uses 32. A number quoted in oat bushels means about six percent more grain on one side of the border than the other, so it is worth knowing which convention a contract is written in.

Converter

Amount

Crop

Convert

How the factor is worked out

One tonne is 1,000 kilograms, and one pound is 0.45359237 kilograms. So the bushels in a tonne is 1,000 divided by the bushel weight in pounds converted to kilograms.

For canola at 50 pounds: 50 lb is 22.68 kg, and 1,000 divided by 22.68 gives 44.09 bushels per tonne. For oats at 34 pounds: 34 lb is 15.42 kg, and 1,000 divided by 15.42 gives 64.84.

These are the standard weights used for grading and contracts. The actual weight of grain in a bin varies with moisture and test weight, which is a separate matter from the conversion factor.

Doing this on every contract

GrainPosition tracks grain contracts, bin inventory and your weighted average price, and switches the whole book between tonnes and bushels with one button, at the right weight for each crop.

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