weight of BU of wheat

[kens]

does anybody know this.

[daytrader]

Depends on moister content. Type, rank and grade.

You MAY, I am not sure be able to find it here.

http://www.providentliving.org/chann...1706-1,00.html

[Ancient Iron]

USDA Grade 1, Hard Red Winter wheat is 60lbs. per bushel. The grades drop as the weight drops. If the moisture is too high, they dock you for the weight of the water in it, etc...

[DaleK]

Hopefully 60 lbs. I've seen as low as 51 and as high as 64, all at the same moisture level.

[Bearfootfarm]

A bushel of wheat is 60 lbs. Thats a standard measurement, and doesnt vary by moisture. The PRICE may vary but a "bushel" of wheat is ALWAYS 60 lbs.

That doesnt mean that the wheat someone puts in a "bushel basket" will always weigh 60 lbs. Its sold by weight and not volume

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/bushels.html

[Ralph in N.E.Oh]

Bearfoot, you are right on .... as usual I might add

[daytrader]

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

A bushel of wheat is 60 lbs. Thats a standard measurement, and doesnt vary by moisture. The PRICE may vary but a "bushel" of wheat is ALWAYS 60 lbs.

That doesnt mean that the wheat someone puts in a "bushel basket" will always weigh 60 lbs. Its sold by weight and not volume

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/bushels.html

This is great to know. They do not dock for moisture on purchase? Maybe this is an old way of buying? Been a while since my FFA days.

So a bu is of winter wheat is always 60 pounds?

[ksfarmer]

The standard for wheat is 60 lbs. If it weighs higher the farmer makes money cause he is paid for 60 per and therefor all above that counts toward another bushel. If it weighs less than 60 the reverse is true, he is still paid for 60 but it takes more. At about 57 test weight and lower there is usually an additional dock or penalty for the poor quality. There can also be a dock in price for too high a moisture level, usually this is around 14 or 15 percent.

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by daytrader

So a bu is of winter wheat is always 60 pounds?

That's what it is here. When they make a crop, that is.

[kens]

Thanks folks.

[rambler]

I'm all confused.

A bu is a unit of volume. It is always the same _size_, but it can and does vary greatly in weight.

Since everyone who buys or sells cares about quality & has a scale, we really don't use that volume thing anymore. Back in the old day, they didn't have a good scale, & sold by the uniform bushel - volume.

A good bu of wheat has been determined to weight 60 lbs. That is the standard conversion.

However, we weight the crops these days on a scale.

We check the test weight. (There are little cans that you fill exactly level full, and percicely weight, then look on a chart to figure out how much an exact busghel would really weigh.)

We check the moisture. (Put it in a little metal pot with electical probs, figures out how much moisture is in it.)

They take these numbers, and adjust the grain to become a 'perfect bu' of grain. They deduct money if it is too wet, or deduct money if it is too light weight. Rarely do you get a bonus if it is too dry or weights more that 'perfect'.

Wheat & soybeans are considered to be 60 lbs per bushel.

Shell corn is considered to be 56 lbs.

Ear corn is considered to be 72 lbs. (The cobs add 16 lbs, and ear corn takes up about 2x the volume of a shelled bushel.)

Oats is considered to be 32 lbs (tho many buyers require 34, or even more test weight to get top dollar).

So, a bushel is a volume measurement, and we most all sell on a weight basis these days, so these numbers were settled upon to give us a way to compare.

It is very odd for prices it be based on volume (per bu) but we sell by weighing the crop (per lb). But that is how it is.

--->Paul

[uncle Will in In.]

Which weighs more? A bushel of wheat, or a bushel of rye? Who don't know holler I.

[farminghandyman]

volume measurement is 1 1/4 cubic foot,

but the weight is the average for good quality grain, and since it is easier to weigh something than to box it up and measure it, weight is the normal,

yes it is volume measurement, but it is also a standard to use weight to measure it as well,

you could sell it by the ton or what ever, but farmers have used the volume of bushel for years and years and that is what they think in, even tho it probably a archaic measurement, of times past,

but you have an idea of what a bushel is in thinking, how much is a ton of wheat? I do not have a concept of what a ton is, but I know what, what 30 some bushels of grain looks like.

probly in time it will be phased out like board foot in lumber has nearly been phased out in most peoples thinking, you do not convert to board feet any more to pay for a 2x6, or a 2x4, you buy a 10' 2x6, @$5.00 not 10 BF, @$.50 for $5.00, you ask most lumber yard clerks how much lumber is via BF, they would have no idea,

and in time I would guess bushels will be phased out as well, for tons or weight like it is in most european countries, that it made so many metric tons per hectare,

[Bearfootfarm]

Originally Posted by uncle Will in In.

Which weighs more? A bushel of wheat, or a bushel of rye? Who don't know holler I.

A Standard Bushel of rye is 56 lbs


http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/bushels.html