Specialty barleys (Hordeum vulgare) have potential to be grown in North Idaho and fill value-added market niches. Specialty barleys need to be evaluated due to agronomic differences in overall performance and seed and seedling vigor compared with traditional barley cultivars. Field performance evaluations were conducted near Genesee, Idaho in 2005 and 2006 and Greencreek, Idaho in 2006 to compare specialty barleys with hulless, waxy starch, high Beta-glucan and low phytate characteristics, and traditional barley cultivars. A second experiment was conducted near Genesee, Idaho in 2006 to evaluate seed treatments and seeding rate effects on specialty barley cultivars. Over three site-years, the hulled lines significantly out-yielded the hulless lines, averaging 4880 kg ha^-1 compared to 4250 kg ha^-1. The waxy and high B-glucan lines had below average yields. One low phytate line was the highest yielding line over three site years. Seed treatment had no significant effect except on seedling populations, with the non-treated treatment having higher populations under warm, favorable plant establishment conditions and low disease potential. The higher seeding rate resulted in significantly higher yield, higher seedling populations, and more lodging, while the lower seeding rate resulted in significantly higher test weight due to greater per plant available soil moisture. These results indicate that specialty barleys require more development to be able to perform equivalent to traditional cultivars, although higher value of specialty barley end products should offset lower agronomic performance.