by Diane Reiter

Created on: March 12, 2007   Last Updated: May 21, 2007

Exactly how much is a bushel?

You hear this term for measurement all of the time, particularly in agriculture reports, but exactly how much is a bushel?

In the United States, a bushel is a unit of volume used for the dry measurement of things such as vegetables, fruits or grains and is equivalent to 4 pecks. In the U.S. Customary System, a bushel is equal to 2,150.42 cubic inches, or 35.24 liter.

When used as a British capacity of measure, or in the British Imperial System, a bushel is used as both a dry and liquid measure and equals 2219.36 cubic inches or 36.37 liters.

To better visualize the capacity of a bushel, one can use the following list to get a better idea regarding the actual size of a bushel:

42-48 pounds of apples
60 pounds of potatoes
45 pounds of tomatoes
42 pounds of white flour
56 pounds of shelled corn
50 pounds of rutabagas
48 pounds of barley
32 pounds of oats
42 pounds of turnips

The average person may never actually measure anything in terms of a bushel, but having a basic understanding of this form of measurement may certainly help city folk during that next visit to the orchard or farm.

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