Total revenue was up 13%, 9% organic to the comparable period.
Order rates outpaced revenue in the quarter, posting bookings of $2.3 billion, a 27% comparable organic increase.
This resulted in the seasonally high backlog of $2.2 billion, an increase of 39%.
Importantly, before we get all wound up trying to quantify the impact of channel inventory stocking in inflationary pre-buy, and how it impacts quarterly demand, let's not lose sight of the fact that total marketplace demand is robust, which is reflected in our backlog and which also leads us to revise our revenue growth guidance upward for the full year to 10% to 12%.
Q1 was solid with consolidated adjusted segment margin of 19.1%, 320 basis points higher versus the comparable quarter.
Strong profitability and continued focus on working capital management resulted in seasonally strong free cash flow, which was up $110 million compared to last year's first quarter or the comparable period.
With that, we are raising our guidance for the year to 10% to 12% all in revenue growth and adjusted earnings per share of $6.75 to $6.85 per share, a substantial step up compared to our prior guidance.
Engineered Products revenue was up 2% organically as demand conditions improved modestly through a comparable period.
And Fueling Solutions was up 3% organically in the quarter on the strength of North American retail fueling as well as our software and systems business in Europe.
Order backlogs are up 13%, and we expect our hanging hardware, vehicle wash and compliance driven underground product offerings to contribute positively due to an increase in miles driven and construction seasonality as we make our way through the year.
Sales in Imaging & Identification improved 4% organically.
Pumps & Process Solutions posted 18% organic growth in the quarter on improved volumes across all businesses except precision components.
Adjusted operating margin in the quarter expanded by 890 basis points on strong volume, favorable mix and pricing.
Refrigeration & Food Equipment continued its solid momentum from the second half of last year posting 18% organic growth.
Despite operational challenges in food retail due to availability issues with installation raw materials, adjusted margin performance improved by 450 basis points, supported by stronger volumes, productivity initiatives and cost actions we took in the middle of 2020, partially offset by input cost inflation.
FX benefited topline by 3% or $51 million.
Acquisitions more than offset dispositions in the quarter by $15 million.
The U.S., our largest market posted 7% organic growth in the quarter on solid order rates and retail fueling, marking and coding, biopharma connectors, food retail and can making among others and was partially offset by delayed shipments in waste hauling.
Europe grew by 13% in the quarter on strong shipments in vehicle aftermarket, biopharma, industrial pumps and heat exchangers.
All of Asia returned to growth and was up 20% organically driven by China, which was up 60% against the COVID impacted comparable quarter in the prior year.
Bookings were up 27% organically reflecting the continued broad-based momentum we are seeing across the portfolio.
Overall, our backlog is currently up $626 million or 39% versus this time last year, positioning us well for the remainder of the year.
On the top of the chart, adjusted segment EBIT was up nearly $100 million.
The adjusted net earnings improved by $60 million, as higher segment EBIT more than offset higher taxes as well as higher corporate expenses, primarily related to compensation accruals and deal expenses.
The effective tax rate excluding discrete tax benefits was approximately 21.7% [Phonetic] for the quarter compared to 21.5% [Phonetic] in the prior year.
Discrete tax benefits were $6 million in the quarter or approximately $3 million lower than in 2020.
Rightsizing and other costs were $4 million in the quarter or $3 million after tax.
We are pleased with the cash flow performance in the first quarter with free cash flow of $146 million or $110 million increase over last year.
Free cash flow conversion stands at 8% of revenue in the first quarter, which is historically our lowest cash flow quarter due to seasonality of our production.
Additionally, we are capitalizing on our leadership position in natural refrigerant systems both in Europe and also in the U.S. where we believe the recent mandate in California will foretell a trend among the other 49 states to mandate the transition to more environmentally friendly solutions.
Our revised annual guidance is on page 10, we covered the most pertinent of these items in the slides and we summarized here for your reference.
Operational excellence and operating margin expansion has been our priority over the last couple of years and we are on track to deliver more than 100 basis points of average margin expansion over that period.

Summary:
Importantly, before we get all wound up trying to quantify the impact of channel inventory stocking in inflationary pre-buy, and how it impacts quarterly demand, let's not lose sight of the fact that total marketplace demand is robust, which is reflected in our backlog and which also leads us to revise our revenue growth guidance upward for the full year to 10% to 12%.
With that, we are raising our guidance for the year to 10% to 12% all in revenue growth and adjusted earnings per share of $6.75 to $6.85 per share, a substantial step up compared to our prior guidance.