Get the free REALM America app
A tractor pulling a wide no-till planter across an Iowa field
Handy tools

Seeding rate calculator

Turn the stand you want into a seeding rate. Enter target plants per acre, seeds per pound from the tag and your germination to get pounds per acre, the seed for the field and the bags to order. Prefer kg/ha? Switch to metric.

Your crop and seed

The stand you want: e.g. corn 30,000-36,000, soybeans 100,000-140,000, wheat about 1-1.5 million (25-35 per sq ft). Depends on crop, region and planting date.

On the seed tag, or count and weigh. It changes between seed lots (wheat often 12,000-18,000, soybeans 2,500-3,500).

From the seed tag or your own germ test.

Share of germinating seeds you expect to become plants - lower in cold, wet or cloddy seedbeds.

e.g. a 50 lb bag or a 2,000 lb tote.

Your estimate

112.8lb per acre
4.51 tonsseed for 80 acres
181bags of 50 lb

Out of every 100 seeds

76 become plants

plant won't make it · germination × establishment

Seeds to plant per acre
1,578,947
Seeds to plant per sq ft
36.2
Seeding rate in kg/ha
126.4 kg/ha
Seed for the whole area
9,023 lb · 4,093 kg
Link to this rate

How we work it out

  • Seeds to plant: target plants ÷ (germination % × establishment %).
  • Pounds per acre: seeds per acre ÷ seeds per lb. In metric: seeds per m² × seed weight (g per 1,000) ÷ 100 = kg/ha.
  • Seed to order: rate × acres, bags rounded up. 1 lb/ac = 1.12 kg/ha; 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft.

This is the standard seeding-rate arithmetic, not a recommendation. The right stand, planting depth and date depend on your crop, hybrid or variety, region and season - check with your county Extension office, agronomist or seed dealer, and calibrate your drill or planter to the rate. Corn and soybean seed is often sold in units of 80,000 or 140,000 seeds: divide seeds per acre × acres by the seeds in a unit. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. Need other units? The seed and fertilizer rate converter does kg/ha ↔ lb/ac.

Need a drill, planter or new ground?

Browse planters, machinery and farmland from several countries on the REALM Marketplace.

Browse the marketplace Agriculture services