Barley is one of the oldest crops people have ever grown, domesticated in the Fertile Crescent more than 10,000 years ago. Today it ranks fourth among the world's grains; most of the world's crop goes to animal feed, and much of the rest becomes malt for beer and whiskey. Its heads carry long bristles called , and barley fields are paler green than wheat fields.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An annual grass with hollow stems.
- Flowers
- The flowering spike has small in threes along the stem, in a herringbone pattern. Each has a bristle (awn) up to about 6 in (16 cm) long. In six-row barley all three spikelets set grain; in two-row barley only the middle one does.
- Fruit
- Hulled barley keeps a tough outer husk that must be removed before eating. Hulless (naked) barley loses its husk easily.
Look-alikes
Check where the leaf wraps the stem: barley has big, hairless, finger-like , while wheat has small, hairy ones. Barley always has awns, but some wheat varieties do too, so awns alone aren't reliable. Barley fields also look paler than wheat fields.
Why they get mixed upBoth are grain crops with similar spikes, grown in the same seasons.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Farm fields
- Range
- In the US, Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota grow over 80% of the crop. US plantings fell to a record low of about 2.3 million acres in 2025.
- Preferred conditions
- Barley likes cool growing weather, around 59–68°F (15–20°C). It handles drought and salty soil better than most grains, but it is less winter-hardy than winter wheat.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Barley mostly pollinates itself.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Two-row, six-row, and wild barley were once treated as separate species, but they are now all considered one species. Wild barley (subspecies spontaneum) grows from North Africa and Crete east to Tibet and is the ancestor of the crop.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- In the US, food, brewing, and other non-feed uses have overtaken animal feed as barley's main market, though that demand has been shrinking along with beer production.
- Six-row barley was the traditional choice for American beers, while two-row was used in German and English beers; today both are common.
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