Barley production in the United States is concentrated in the northern Great Plains and Pacific Northwest, with Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota consistently ranking as the top three producing states. In 2025, U.S. farmers harvested about 1.76 million acres of barley and produced roughly 141 million bushels, a relatively small footprint compared to corn or wheat but a critical crop for the brewing and livestock feed industries.
The Top Barley-Producing States
Idaho leads the nation in barley production most years, thanks to its irrigated farmland and cool, dry climate in the Snake River Plain. Montana follows closely, with dryland barley fields stretching across the north-central part of the state. North Dakota rounds out the top three, growing barley in the same northern prairie belt that produces most of the country’s spring wheat.
Beyond those three, meaningful barley acreage also exists in Washington, Colorado, Wyoming, Oregon, and Minnesota. Smaller pockets of production show up in Virginia, Maryland, and other Mid-Atlantic states, where winter barley varieties are planted in the fall and harvested the following summer. Alaska has also grown barley since at least the 1970s, with acreage peaking in the 1990s around Fairbanks and Delta Junction, two of the state’s most important agricultural areas.
Why Barley Grows Where It Does
Barley thrives in cool, dry conditions. It performs best on well-drained loams and clay loams, and it tolerates alkaline soils better than almost any other small grain, growing well at pH levels between 6.0 and 8.5. That tolerance for alkaline and even saline soils is one reason it fits so well in the semi-arid West, where soil chemistry can be challenging for other crops.
What barley does not handle well is heat and humidity. It can survive in a hot climate, but warm, moist conditions make it far more vulnerable to fungal diseases. It also struggles in poorly drained soil and grows unevenly on sandy ground. These limitations explain why you see almost no commercial barley in the Deep South or the humid Southeast, even though the growing season there is long enough.
In arid parts of Idaho and eastern Washington, barley depends on irrigation to produce consistent yields. Dryland barley is more common in Montana and North Dakota, where spring rainfall and cooler summer temperatures provide enough moisture without supplemental water.
Spring Barley vs. Winter Barley
The vast majority of U.S. barley is spring barley, planted in April or May and harvested in late summer. This is the dominant type across the northern tier states: Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, and Minnesota. Spring barley works in these regions because winters are simply too harsh for the crop to survive in the ground. Barley plants die when temperatures drop below about 17°F, which rules out overwintering in most of the northern Plains.
Winter barley is planted in the fall and harvested the following June or July. It occupies a much smaller share of total U.S. acreage and is grown mainly in the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Southeast, where winters are cold but rarely cold enough to kill the crop. States like Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina grow winter barley both as a grain crop and as a cover crop to protect soil over winter months.
What U.S. Barley Is Used For
Two industries drive barley demand in the United States: animal feed and malting. Feed barley accounts for the larger share of total production and can be grown to less exacting standards. Malting barley, used to make beer and whiskey, commands a premium price but must meet strict quality specifications for protein content, kernel size, and germination rate. Idaho and Montana are particularly important sources of malting barley because their dry harvest conditions help farmers bring in clean, undamaged grain.
The craft brewing boom over the past two decades has boosted interest in locally grown malting barley in states that historically grew little of it, including parts of the Northeast and the upper Midwest. But in terms of raw volume, the northern Plains and Pacific Northwest still dominate.
A Shrinking Crop
U.S. barley acreage has been declining for decades. Farmers seeded a record low 2.30 million acres in 2025, down 3 percent from the year before. For context, the U.S. grew barley on more than 10 million acres in the 1980s. Competition from more profitable crops, especially corn and soybeans, has steadily pushed barley to the margins.
Yields, however, have moved in the opposite direction. The national average hit a record 80.0 bushels per acre in 2025, up from 76.6 the previous year. Better seed varieties and improved farming practices mean the country produces far more barley per acre than it did a generation ago, partially offsetting the loss of planted area. Still, total production at 141 million bushels is well below historical highs, and the geographic footprint continues to narrow toward the handful of states where barley remains the most practical option for the landscape and climate.
In Alaska, climate change has extended the growing season and shifted the timing of crop development. Barley varieties that once headed at predictable dates are now maturing earlier in warmer areas like Fairbanks, while cooler regions like Delta Junction still support later-maturing types. Researchers have suggested that farmers in these areas can adjust planting dates to avoid the worst effects of shifting weather patterns on yield.