Grain texture is an important quality parameter in barley.  Harder textured cultivars considered to be better for feed quality and softer textured cultivars for good malting quality.  Most grain textural variation is controlled by Hardness locus that consists from four tightly linked genes hina, hinb-1, hinb-2, and GSP located on the short arm of chromosome 5H. In this study, eighty one barley genotypes from diverse backgrounds were analyzed for hardness, ruminant digestibility, and sequence type of hina.  Fourteen distinct hina alleles were observed, indicating a large degree of polymorphism exists at this locus in barley.  However, the results of this study also indicate that the available magnitude of barley texture variation is very small relative to wheat.  Varieties having alleles more divergent from the wheat homolog of hina were found to have higher grain hardness.  However, because of the small sample size and large degree of heterogeneity, it is difficult to ascertain whether there exist “soft type” hina sequences and to what degree each of the 14 hina alleles contribute to the grain softness effect.  A negative correlation exists between barley grain hardness and ruminant dry matter digestibility.  However, kernel size and particle size were better correlated with dry matter digestibility.  The mechanisms controlling barley grain texture must first be elucidated before truly soft or hard barley cultivars can be developed.  The results of this study indicate that a greater degree of genetic control of barley grain texture would be a useful tool for improving the food and feed value for this important grain species. The haplotype analysis of hinb-1, hinb-2 and GSP and their association with grain hardness and dry matter digestibility is underway.