Practical guide

Grain Test Weight, Trade Weight and Volume Bushels

Separate measured test weight, commodity trade weight and U.S. dry-volume bushels before converting or estimating grain mass.

Three similarly named quantities answer different questions.

• A U.S. dry-volume bushel is a volume of 2,150.42 cubic inches.
• Test weight per bushel is the weight filling that reference volume when determined with approved equipment and prescribed procedure.
• A commodity trade weight is an accounting convention used to express a standard-weight equivalent; it is not automatically the density of a sample.

Why sampling and procedure matter

Test weight depends on how the representative sample is prepared and how the approved container is filled and struck. Typing a commodity name into a calculator cannot reproduce that measurement. Moisture, foreign material and sample condition can matter to the actual result.

Why wheat has separate metric equations

USDA FGIS Book II specifies multiplier-plus-offset equations for durum and other wheat, while other grains use a multiplier without an offset. A generic density conversion therefore does not reproduce the prescribed wheat conversion.

Using a bin estimate responsibly

First calculate physical volume. Use an actual representative test-weight measurement only when estimating loose mass. Keep any packing model separate. Do not present the result as certified warehouse, insurance, collateral or settlement inventory.

Use a dimensionally checked conversion worksheet for unit conversion and keep capacity geometry separate. The test-weight and grain-bin tools remain out of the search index until their required domain reviews are signed off.