Understanding Acre-Feet to US Bushels Conversion
An acre-foot is the volume of water covering one acre to a depth of one foot, the standard unit used in US water rights, reservoir management, and irrigation planning. The US bushel is a dry-volume unit of about 35.24 liters historically used for grains and produce. Converting between them is a niche but useful way to visualize large stored-water volumes in agricultural dry-measure terms.
Conversion Formula
To convert Acre-Feet to US Bushels, multiply by this factor:
Step-by-Step Example
Convert 25 Acre-Feet to US Bushels.
How to Convert Acre-Feet to US Bushels
Convert large stored-water volumes into US dry bushels with a single multiplication.
- Identify the acre-feet value: Start with the volume you want to convert, for example 25 acre-feet.
- Apply the conversion factor: Multiply by 35003.25, the number of US bushels in one acre-foot.
- Calculate the result: 25 × 35003.25 = 875,081 US bushels.
- Verify if needed: Divide the bushel result by 35003.25 to confirm you recover the original acre-feet.
Acre-Feet to US Bushels conversion table
| Acre-Feet (acre-foot) | US Bushels (bu) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 35003.25 |
| 2 | 70006.49 |
| 3 | 105009.7 |
| 4 | 140013 |
| 5 | 175016.2 |
| 6 | 210019.5 |
| 7 | 245022.7 |
| 8 | 280026 |
| 9 | 315029.2 |
| 10 | 350032.5 |
| 15 | 525048.7 |
| 20 | 700064.9 |
| 25 | 875081.1 |
| 30 | 1050097 |
| 40 | 1400130 |
| 50 | 1750162 |
| 60 | 2100195 |
| 70 | 2450227 |
| 80 | 2800260 |
| 90 | 3150292 |
| 100 | 3500325 |
| 150 | 5250487 |
| 200 | 7000649 |
| 250 | 8750811 |
| 300 | 10500970 |
| 400 | 14001300 |
| 500 | 17501620 |
| 600 | 21001950 |
| 700 | 24502270 |
| 800 | 28002600 |
| 900 | 31502920 |
| 1000 | 35003250 |
| 2000 | 70006490 |
| 3000 | 105009700 |
| 4000 | 140013000 |
| 5000 | 175016200 |
| 10000 | 350032500 |
| 25000 | 875081100 |
| 50000 | 1750162000 |
| 100000 | 3500325000 |
| 250000 | 8750811000 |
| 500000 | 17501620000 |
| 1000000 | 35003250000 |
What is the Acre-Foot?
The acre-foot is a unit of volume equal to the amount of water needed to cover one acre of land to a depth of one foot. It is the standard measure used for large-scale water resources in the United States, including reservoirs, irrigation supplies, and municipal water rights.
Definition
One acre-foot is defined as the volume of a prism with a base area of one acre (43,560 square feet) and a height of one foot, giving exactly 43,560 cubic feet.
Because the US survey foot and the international foot differ slightly, the acre-foot is fixed by its exact defining relation of 43,560 cubic feet, which equals about 1,233.48 cubic metres or 1,233,482 litres.
Origin and History
The acre-foot arose in the American West during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as irrigation districts and water agencies needed a practical unit for measuring large volumes of stored and delivered water. It combines the acre, an old English unit of land area, with the foot of depth, making it intuitive for engineers estimating how much water a given area of reservoir or flooded field holds.
Law and Notable Facts
The acre-foot remains the legal and administrative unit for water rights, reservoir capacity, and interstate water compacts throughout the western United States. A commonly cited rule of thumb is that one acre-foot supplies roughly one to two typical American households for a year, which is why it is used to describe how many homes a reservoir can serve.
Real-World Examples and Conversions
- A single acre-foot equals about 325,851 US gallons of water.
- Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the US, has a capacity of roughly 28.9 million acre-feet when full.
- An Olympic swimming pool holds about 2,500 cubic metres, or roughly 2 acre-feet.
- In metric terms, 1 acre-foot is approximately 1,233 cubic metres (1.23348 million litres).
What is the US Bushel?
The US bushel is a large United States customary unit of dry volume used chiefly in agriculture to measure grain, fruit, and other bulk crops. It is the foundation of the US dry-measure system.
Definition
The US bushel (the Winchester bushel) is defined as exactly 2150.42 cubic inches.
This equals 2150.42 × 16.387064 cm³ = 35239.07 cm³. One bushel contains 4 pecks, 32 dry quarts, or 64 dry pints. It should not be confused with the imperial bushel (36.36872 L), which is about 3% larger.
Origin and History
The Winchester bushel dates to a 1696 English statute (with roots in medieval standards kept at Winchester) and was defined as a cylinder 18.5 inches in diameter and 8 inches deep, giving 2150.42 in³. The United States adopted this measure, while Great Britain replaced it with the imperial bushel in 1824.
Law and Notable Facts
Although volumetric by definition, US grain trading uses the bushel as a weight-based unit: legal "bushel weights" fix a bushel of wheat or soybeans at 60 pounds, corn and rye at 56 pounds, and oats at 32 pounds. Commodity exchanges quote grain prices per bushel on this weight basis.
Real-World Examples and Conversions
- A bushel of shelled corn weighs 56 lb (about 25.4 kg) and occupies roughly 35.24 liters of loose volume.
- 1 US bushel = 4 pecks = 8 US dry gallons = 35.2391 L.
- 1 US bushel ≈ 0.9689 imperial bushel; 1 cubic meter ≈ 28.38 US bushels.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many US bushels are in one acre-foot?
One acre-foot equals 35003.25 US bushels, since an acre-foot is roughly 1,233 cubic meters and a US bushel is about 0.03524 cubic meters.
How do I convert acre-feet to US bushels?
Multiply the number of acre-feet by 35003.25. For example, 3 acre-feet is 3 × 35003.25 = 105,009.75 US bushels.
How do I convert US bushels back to acre-feet?
Multiply US bushels by 0.00002856878, the reciprocal factor. So 100,000 bushels equals about 2.857 acre-feet.
Why compare a water unit to a dry-goods unit?
Both are volume units, so the conversion is dimensionally valid and can help illustrate the sheer scale of an acre-foot of storage in familiar agricultural bushel terms.
Is the US bushel a dry or liquid measure?
The US bushel is a dry-volume measure (about 35.24 L), distinct from the smaller US liquid units used for fluids.