One bushel of wheat- bread, pancakes, pasta, and more

The most popular cereal grain and used in many of the world’s favourite foods, wheat production is a vital part of the economy and a primary grain in many households. One bushel of wheat produces 60 pounds of whole wheat flour or 42 pounds of white flour. This equals 90 loaves of commercial brown bread, or 42 loaves of white bread at the grocery store! 

What is a bushel?

A bushel is a term of measurement used for dry goods. How much wheat is one bushel? A bushel of wheat is 60 lbs and contains one million individual kernels of wheat! It is approximately 2 1/2 five gallon pails of grain.

How much land is one bushel?

Farmland is measured in acres. One acre is a bit less than a football field at 43,560 square feet. (Note: the Irish and Scottish acre are larger).

Crop statistics from the Government of Saskatchewan, Canada estimate Hard Red Spring Wheat to produce 43 bushels per acre of wheat in 2024. Durum is estimated at 24 bushels per acre of wheat this year.¹

Therefore, one bushel of Hard Red Spring wheat would cover 1,013 square feet. One bushel of Durum wheat would be 1,815 square feet.

How much flour does one 60-pound bushel of wheat yield?

Whole wheat flour is made by grinding the entire kernel of wheat. 60 pounds of whole-wheat flour is produced from one bushel of wheat. There are 210 cups of whole-wheat flour in one bushel.

White flour is made by grinding only the soft centre of the wheat kernel, the endosperm, and yields 42 pounds of flour. 168 cups of white flour is produced from one bushel of wheat.

How much flour is in one loaf of bread?

A typical loaf of bread from the grocery store will use 16 ounces of flour (4 cups). This equals 1 lb of white all-purpose flour. One pound of whole wheat flour is closer to 3 1/2 cups. My personal bread recipe only uses 2 cups of flour per loaf.

How many loaves of bread in a bushel of wheat?

• 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread
• 42 one and a half pound commercial loaves of white bread
• Homemade bread: 84 loaves of white bread, 105 loaves of whole wheat bread

How many loaves of bread in…

• One five gallon bucket has enough wheat to make 48 loaves of homemade white bread
• One small combine hopper holds enough wheat to make 22,500 commercial loaves of bread
• One large combine hopper holds enough wheat to make 49,500 loaves of whole wheat bread

Number of loaves produced by Canada

Canada produced 34 million metric tons of wheat in 2022². This is the equivalent of over 110 billion loaves of whole wheat bread per year.³

Number of loaves produced by the United States

The United States produced 1.8 billion bushels of wheat in the past year⁴. This is the equivalent of just under 163 billion loaves of whole-wheat bread!

For Fun! One bushel of wheat equals…

84 loaves of banana bread

42 pounds of pasta- 42 boxes of macaroni

168 dozen muffins

1680 pancakes

2016 chocolate chip cookies

More facts about wheat

Wheat is a type of grass that is commonly grown all over the world. It is harvested for its seed kernel, which is then processed and ground into flour, and used in a variety of food products.

China produces the most wheat worldwide, followed by India and Russia, then United States. Canada ranks number 6 in the leading wheat producing countries⁵. Saskatchewan and Alberta produce the most in Canada. Kansas produces the most wheat in the United States. 

Wheat Types

All classes of wheat are quite versatile, but have areas where they outperform others.

• Hard Spring Wheat (most common for bread making)
• Soft White (great for pastries, cakes, and crackers)
• Hard Red Winter wheat (common for breads)
• Soft Red Winter wheat (sweet treats like cookies and sponge cake)
• Durum (exceptional for pasta or flatbreads and pizza crusts
• Hard White (Asian noodles, and whole wheat baking)

How flour is made

A wheat kernel is made up of three parts: the bran (outer layer that contains the fibre, B vitamins, and  iron), the germ, and the endosperm (inner heart containing protein and carbohydrates)

To make flour, the whole grains are placed through rollers and crushed, then travel through a system of sieves that separate the grain by size. Whole wheat is milled by crushing the whole grain or by combining portions of all parts. Whole wheat type of flour often contains different varieties of wheat.

Refining flour removes the bran and the germ. The flour becomes more shelf stable has a finer texture,  but removes nutrients such as fibre, B vitamins, iron, selenium, magnesium. These nutrients along with folic acid, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, zinc, copper (minus fibre) are later added to create enriched flour⁶.

Curious about using fresh wheat berries and grinding your own flour? Find more information here.

More Sources

• Eatwheat.org>November is National Bread Month
• Wheat Facts> Oregon Wheat> owgl.org

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Check out these articles

1. How Many Acres of Wheat in a Bushel> Crop Reports> Crop Statistics Government of Saskatchewan> ↩︎
2. Wheat production volume Canada 2022> Statistica.com ↩︎
3. 34 million metric tons equals 1.2 billion bushels of wheat times 90 loaves per bushel. ↩︎
4. Total US Wheat Production from 2001 to 2023> statista.com ↩︎
5. Top 10 Wheat Producing Countries in the World> LinkedIn.com ↩︎
6. Health Benefit of Wheat> WebMD ↩︎