Free farm tool

Hectares to Acres Converter

Convert field sizes between hectares, acres, and square metres - exact figures, either direction.

Acres

24.71

Square metres (m²)

100,000

How the conversion works

One hectare is exactly 10,000 square metres; one acre is 4,046.86 square metres. That makes the conversion factors:

  • Hectares → acres: multiply by 2.4711
  • Acres → hectares: multiply by 0.4047 (or divide by 2.4711)

The field-side approximation - “hectares times two and a half, less a bit” - is accurate to about 1%, which is fine for conversation and useless for paperwork. Use the exact factor for anything that feeds a scheme claim, a contract, or an application rate.

Common conversions

HectaresAcres
1 ha2.47 acres
2 ha4.94 acres
5 ha12.36 acres
10 ha24.71 acres
20 ha49.42 acres
50 ha123.55 acres
100 ha247.11 acres
200 ha494.21 acres
AcresHectares
1 acres0.40 ha
5 acres2.02 ha
10 acres4.05 ha
25 acres10.12 ha
50 acres20.23 ha
100 acres40.47 ha
250 acres101.17 ha
500 acres202.34 ha

Where the units come from

The hectare is metric: a square hundred metres on a side. The acre is medieval: notionally the area a team of oxen could plough in a day, a furlong (220 yards) by a chain (22 yards). UK agriculture officially went metric decades ago, but acres persist in sale particulars, old maps, and most conversations over a gate - so the two units will be converted between for a while yet.

Frequently asked questions

How many acres are in a hectare?

One hectare equals 2.4711 acres. A quick field rule of thumb: multiply hectares by 2.5 and knock a little off. So a 10-hectare field is 24.7 acres, and a 40-hectare block is just under 99 acres.

How do you convert acres to hectares?

Divide the number of acres by 2.4711 (or multiply by 0.4047). For example, 100 acres is 40.47 hectares. The converter above does this exactly in either direction.

Why does UK farming use both hectares and acres?

Official schemes, agronomy rates, and land registration work in hectares, but acres survive in everyday speech, older deeds, and land sale particulars. Most UK farmers think in acres for familiarity and report in hectares for paperwork, so converting between the two is a daily job.

How big is a hectare in real terms?

A hectare is 10,000 square metres - a square exactly 100 metres on each side, or roughly one and a half football pitches. An acre is about 4,047 square metres, which is a little smaller than one football pitch.

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