Idaho barley production way down in 2026

By Sean Ellis

Idaho Farm Bureau Federation

POCATELLO – Total Idaho barley production fell dramatically this year, but the state remains the nation’s top barley producer.

It’s a spot Idaho has held for the past 11 years, although Montana got closer than normal this year.

According to USDA, Idaho farmers produced 38 million bushels of barley in 2026, down 31 percent compared with 54.9 million bushels in 2025.

That means Idaho produced 32.9 percent of the nation’s total barley crop this year, compared with 39 percent last year.

Montana took the No. 2 spot with 36.4 million bushels of barley produced. That was 31.5 percent of the nation’s barley crop and it was the closest any state has come to Idaho in more than a decade.

North Dakota ranked third with 19.4 million bushels, which amounted to 16.8 percent of the U.S. barley crop.

Together, those three states produced 81 percent of the nation’s total 2026 barley crop of 115.7 million bushels, which was down 19 percent from 2025.

The 38 million bushels of barley grown in Idaho this year was the state’s lowest total in more than 10 years. This was partly due to lower acreage, but lower yields were also a major factor.

USDA put total harvested barley acres in Idaho this year at 380,000, down from 490,000 last year, 510,000 in 2024 and 540,000 in both 2023 and 2022.

Decreased acreage was only part of the story. The average yield for barley in Idaho this year was 100 bushels per acre, down from a record 112 last year, 109 in 2024, 112 in 2023 and 111 in 2022.

Idaho barley farmers and industry leaders said it was a tough year agronomically, as late frosts, lengthy heat spells, lack of adequate water and other environmental factors combined to take their toll on yields.

“Some areas of the state faced late frost, hail, or extended hot weather conditions that impacted the crop, besides overall contacted acres being down due to supply on hand,” said Idaho Barley Commission Executive Director Laura Wilder.

For dryland barley growers in southeast Idaho, the heat was a killer, said Soda Springs farmer Jake Ozburn.

“The heat and the length of the heat – it was hot for a long time – took a hit on yields,” he said.

“It was a year of weather extremes,” said Brett Wilken, who oversees Scoular’s Barley MVP program.

He said some farmers planted earlier than normal because of the mild winter-early spring weather. But then a cold streak hit and “some of the crops just didn’t handle it well at all.”

“There were some incredible yields and some real quality stuff this year, but there was also some pretty bad stuff,” Wilken said.

“It warmed up way early, some guys planted grain crops too early, and then we had some real hard frosts,” said Teton grain farmer Dwight Little.

High summer temperatures and wind didn’t help, he added.

“Environmentally, it’s been a struggle the whole year,” he said. “This is probably the lightest grain crop we’ve cut in years. It was hot, dry and tough.”

It was a dry year and “we had no sub-moisture,” said Raft River farmer Lucas Spratling. Plus, he added, “The spring wouldn’t let up on the frost and it hurt yields. Yield was way down.”

The difficult growing year is reflected in Idaho’s planted vs. harvested acres in 2026.

Idaho farmers planted 520,000 barley acres last year and harvested 495,000. In 2024, Idaho growers planted 530,000 acres of barley and harvested 510,000.

This year, they planted 445,000 but only harvested 380,000.

Idaho barley yields are typically much higher than they are in Montana and North Dakota because a lot more of the state’s barley is grown under irrigation.

For example, Montana farmers harvested 650,000 acres of barley this year compared with 380,000 in Idaho. However, yield in Idaho averaged 100 bushels per acre compared with 56 in Montana. In North Dakota, average yield this year was 67 bushels per acre.

About 70 percent of the barley produced in Idaho is malt barley, which is a critical part of the beer-brewing process. The rest is used for human food or animal feed.

Wilder said Idaho is a great place to grow barley, which is why major beer brewing companies have a significant presence here.

She said Idaho is known worldwide for its consistent supply of high-quality barley due to its excellent soil, high desert climate and available irrigation water.