Bushel

A bushel is a volume-based unit used to price and measure US grain and oilseed crops, with a standard weight that differs by crop.

US grain and oilseed markets price and measure crops in bushels, a unit that is nominally about volume but is standardized to a fixed weight for each specific crop, since grain of different moisture and density would otherwise fill a bushel basket differently. A bushel of wheat is defined as 60 pounds, while corn and soybeans use different standard weights of their own.

This is why grain prices quoted “per bushel” are directly comparable across different lots of the same crop despite differences in how the grain looks or was measured, and why converting between bushels and a weight-based unit like the tonne requires knowing which crop is involved. USDA reports including the WASDE and figures for ending stocks are commonly expressed in bushels for the crops this unit traditionally covers.