A three year study began in 1997 investigating the effects of increasing plant populations combined with low, moderate, and high levels of soil nitrogen fertility on malt barley yield and quality. The study area is located in Coors' northern Colorado growing region near Longmont, Colorado. Relatively high daily temperatures are common to this area while limited irrigation intervals often impose high levels of heat and drought stress to the developing crop. This study examines barley plant populations ranging from 615,000 to 3.1 million plants ha^-1 produced under low (60 kg ha^-1), moderate (120 kg ha^-1), and high (180 kg ha^-1) levels of soil applied nitrogen. Yields increased with increasing soil nitrogen level from 5,700 kg ha^-1 to 7,000 kg ha^-1 while higher soil nitrogen levels led to decreases in quality attributes such as percent plump grain, test weight, and grain protein. While yields responded positively to increasing plant population, a corresponding decrease in quality attributes was apparent as plant populations increased. Moderate levels of soil applied nitrogen in conjunction with a final plant population of 1.8 million plants ha^-1 produced the highest overall yield/quality combination.