ANSI/ASAE D241.

4 NOV98
Approved FEB 1993; reaffirmed NOV 1998 by American National Standards Institute

Density, Specific Gravity, and Mass-Moisture Relationships

of Grain for Storage
Approved by the ASAE Committee on Technical Data; adopted by ASAE
1948; revised 1954, 1962; revised by the Electric Power and Processing
Division Technical Committee December 1967; reconfirmed December
1972; revised December 1973; revised editorially March 1975;
reconfirmed December 1978, December 1983; revised by the ASAE
Physical Properties of Agricultural Products Committee; approved by the

ASAE Food and Process Engineering Institute Standards Committee

April 1987; reconfirmed December 1991; revised October 1992;
approved as an American National Standard February 1993; revised
editorially February 1997; reaffirmed by ASAE December 1997;
reaffirmed by ANSI November 1998.

Table 1 Approximate bulk density of grains and seeds

Grain or seed

kg/m3

lb/bu* )

Grain or seed
Peanuts, unshelled:

Alfalfa

772

60

Barley

618

48

Virginia type

Beans:
lima, dry

runners, southeastern
721

56

lima, unshelled

360412

2832

southeastern

snap

southwestern

360412

2832

other, dry

772

60

Bluegrass)

180386

1430

Broomcorn seed

566644

4450

kg/m3

lb/bu* )

219

17

270

21

322

25

Spanish:

Perilla seed

322

25

476515

3740

901

70)

Popcorn:
ear, husked

Buckwheat

618

48

shelled

721

58

Canola (rapeseed))

669

52

Poppy seed

592

46

Castor beans

528

41

Redtop seed,#)

348451

2735

Clower seed

772

60

Rice, rough

579

45

Rye

721

56

ear, husked

901

Sesame

592

46

shelled

721

56

Sorgo seed

644

50

Cottonseed

412

32

Sorghum grain

721

56

Cowpeas

772

60

Soybeans

772

60

Flaxseed

721

56

Spelt (p. wheat)

515

40

Hempseed

566

44

Sudangrass seed

515

40

Sunflower seed (non-oil)

309

24

Sunflower seed (oil)

412

32

Corn:
70

Hickory nuts

644

50

Kapok seed

451515

3540

Lentils

772

60

Timothy seed

579

45

Millet

618644

4850

Velvet, beans, hulled

722

60

Mustard seed

747772

5860

Vetch

772

60

Oats

412

32

Walnuts, black

644

50

Orchard grass seed

180

14

Wheat

772

60

*)

Except where otherwise specified, source of lb/bu mass: USDA, 1990. A standard US bushel has a volume of 1.244456 ft3 (or 2150.42 in.3). The bulk density in bins
and other enclosures will vary with moisture and method of filling.
)
Bulk density of grass seeds can increase substantially as purity increases. For both bluegrass and redtop, the major contaminant is sterile flora.
)
Sources: Jayas, et al., 1989; Stroshine, 1988[a].
)
The standard mass of 70 lb is usually recognized as being about 2 measured bushels of corn, husked, on the ear, because 70 lb would normally yield 1 bu, or 56 lb
of shelled corn.
#)
Data from a commercial seed company. Range is for 96 to 98% purity (Stroshine, 1988[b]).

508

ASAE STANDARDS 1999

Table 2 Specific gravity and percentage of voids in bulk grain

(source: Zink, 1935)

Grain
Barley
Barley
Barley
Barley
Barley
Buckwheat
Canola)
Canola)
Corn, mixed
Corn, shelled
Corn, shelled
Flaxseed
Grain sorghum
Grain sorghum
Millet
Oats
Oats
Oats
Oats
Rice
Rice
Rye
Soybeans
Soybeans
Wheat, hard
Wheat, hard
Wheat, soft
*)

Variety
Coast (6 rows)
Hannchen
Synasota
Trebi (6 rows)
White hulless
Japanese
Tobin
Westar
Yellow and white
Yellow, dent
Yellow, dent
Blackhull kafir
Yellow milo
Siberian
Iowar
Kanota
Red Texas
Victory
Honduras
Wataribune
Common
Manchu
Wilson
Turkey, winter
Turkey, winter (yellow)
Harvest, queen

Moisture
constant
(% wet basis)

Air space or
voids* ) in
bulk, %

Kernel
specific
gravity

10.3
9.7
9.8
10.7
10.4
10.1
6.5
6.7
9.0
25.0
15.0
5.8
9.9
9.5
9.4
9.7
9.4
10.3
9.8
11.9
12.4
9.7
6.9
7.0
9.8
9.8
9.8

57.6
44.5
45.4
47.9
39.5
41.0
38.4
38.9
40.0
44.0
40.0
34.6
36.8
37.0
36.8
51.4
50.9
55.5
47.6
50.4
46.5
41.2
36.1
33.8
42.6
40.1
39.6

1.13
1.26
1.21
1.24
1.33
1.10
1.15
1.10
1.19
1.27
1.30
1.10
1.26
1.22
1.11
0.95
1.06
0.99
1.05
1.11
1.12
1.23
1.18
1.13
1.30
1.29
1.32

Figure 1 (A) Relationship between cob moisture and kernel moisture for
ear corn; (B) Mass of ear corn required to yield 1 bu (1 bu 5 56 lb) of
shelled corn containing 15.5% moisture. This is based on a dry matter mass
of 47.32 lb for grain and 9.94 lb for cobs at the cob-grain moisture shown
(source: Iowa State, 1945)

This is also equal to the % porosity.

Values for porosity given by Jayas, et al. 1989. Specific gravity values were
calculated from their values of porosity and loose fill bulk density.

Table 3 Approximate bulk density, D , of several grains as a function of the decimal wet basis moisture content, M (M 5 % moisture wet basis/100).
Multiple sources are provided to illustrate variations caused by different growing conditions, hybrid or variety, etc.
Bulk density
kg/m3

Grain
Wet basis moisture of 15 to 40%:
Barley
Corn (shelled)
Oats
Rye
Sorghum (grain)
Soybeans
Wheat

D
D
D
D
D
D
D

5
5
5
5
5
5
5

705.4 2 1142 M 1 1950 M 2

1086.3 2 2971 M 1 4810 M 2
773.0 2 2311 M 1 3630 M 2
974.8 2 2052 M 1 2850 M 2
829.1 2 643 M 1 660 M 2
734.5 2 219 M 1 70 M 2
885.3 2 1631 M 1 2640 M 2

Wet basis moisture of 3 to 24% (wheat) and 10 to 35% (shelled corn):

Wheat
D 5 774.4 2 703 M 1 18 510 M 2 2 148 960 M 3 1 311 600 M 4
Corn (shelled)
D 5 701.9 1 1676 M 2 11 598 M 2 1 18 240 M 3
Other sources of information (tables and graphs):
Canola (rapeseed) (wet basis moisture 6.5 to 14.5%)
Corn (shelled) (wet basis moisture 10 to 40%)
Corn (shelled) (wet basis moisture 12 to 32%)
Corn (shelled) (wet basis moisture 12 to 32%)
(includes effects of mechanical damage)
Wheat, barley, oats (wet basis moisture 10 to 30%)

ASAE STANDARDS 1999

Source

Brusewitz,
Brusewitz,
Brusewitz,
Brusewitz,
Brusewitz,
Brusewitz,

1975
1975
1975
1975
1975
1975

Nelson, 1980
Nelson, 1980

Jayas, et al., 1989

Miles, 1937
Hall, 1972
Hall and Hill, 1974
Browne, 1962

509

Figure 2 Relation of kernel moisture content and shelling percentage to total moisture content of ear corn and to mass of ear corn
required to yield 1 bu (1 bu 5 56 lb) of shelled corn with 15.5% moisture content (source: Schmidt, 1948)

NOTE For any lot of corn the characteristic index number may be determined by measuring kernel moisture and shelling percentage. The corn
characteristic index is useful when it is desirable to get successive samples for a field as the corn matures and dries. For a given lot of corn standing
in the field the index remains approximately constant as the moisture content drops and other factors change. Once established for a field of corn,
the index permits making estimates from measurement of kernel moisture only. Corn with a characteristic index of 4 or 5 has well-filled ears. Corn
with ears only partly filled or having extensive insect damage will have a higher index number. Figure 1 applies to corn having a characteristic of
5 to 7.

Annex A
(informative)
Bibliography

Jayas, D. S., S. Sokhansanj, and N. D. G. White. Bulk density and

porosity of canola. Transactions of the ASAE 32(1):291294; 1989

The following documents are cited as reference sources used in

development of this Data:

Nelson, S. O. Moisture-dependent kernel-and bulk-density relationships

for wheat and corn. Transactions of the ASAE 23(1):139143; 1980

Browne, D. A. Variations of bulk density of cereals with moisture content.

Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 7(4):288290; 1962

Schmidt, J. L. How to reduce ear corn to bushels of shelled corn.

Agricultural Engineering 29(7):294296; 1948

Brusewitz, G. H. Density of rewetted high moisture grains. Transactions

of the ASAE 18(5):935938; 1975

Stroshine, R. L. Personal communication with Allen Earle, Canola

Council of Canada, Winnipeg; 1988(a)

Hall, G. E. Test-weight changes of shelled corn during drying. Transactions of the ASAE 15(2):320323; 1972

Stroshine, R. L. Personal communication with John Sours, Jacklin Seed

Co., Post Falls, ID; 1988(b)

Hall, G. E. and L. D. Hill Test weight adjustment based on moisture

content and mechanical damage of corn kernels. Transactions of the
ASAE 17(3):578579; 1974

USDA. Table of Weights and Measures. Agricultural Statistics, 1990.

U.S. Government Printing Office; 1990. p vvii

Iowa State, Conversion Table (revised 1945). Prepared by the Agronomy

Dept., Iowa State Univ., 1945

510

Miles, S. R. The relation between moisture content and test weight of

corn. Journal of the American Society of Agronomy 19:412418; 1937

Zink, F. J. Specific gravity and air space of grains and seeds. Agricultural
Engineering 16(11):439440; 1935

ASAE STANDARDS 1999