The article presents the results of a study on the growth, development, response to mineral nutrition and yield stability of 16 varieties of spring barley on chernozem soils of Northern Kazakhstan, cultivated under three backgrounds of mineral nutrition—without fertilizers, half of the calculated dose (N₃₀P₃₅) and the full calculated dose (N₆₀P₇₀) of fertilizers. The reserves of productive moisture, the content of nitrate nitrogen, mobile phosphorus, exchangeable potassium, pH of the water extract in the soil, phenological development of plants, plant density, elements of crop structure, yield, ecological plasticity to mineral nutrition and stability of yield of barley varieties were studied. It was found that the use of mineral fertilizers increased the average grain yield by 0.29–0.46 t/ha (24.0–38.0%) compared to the unfertilized background. The varieties Kudesnik (+0.77 t/ha; +98.7%), Prairie (+0.80 t/ha; +63.0%) and Arna (+0.64 t/ha; +66.0%) showed the greatest response to fertilizers; the maximum yield was achieved by the varieties KWS Salome (2.30 t/ha) and Vakula (2.28 t/ha) with the full calculated dose of fertilizers. Correlation analysis showed that, against an unfertilized background, yield was most closely related to the 1000-grain weight (r = 0.75), the number of plants before harvesting (r = 0.63), and the number of productive stems (r = 0.53), indicating the leading role of these traits in yield formation. The values of the ecological plasticity coefficient (bi) varied from 0.6 to 1.7, and the yield stability index (Hom) varied from 3.4 to 6.9, which reflects significant differences in the adaptive response of varieties to changes in the level of mineral nutrition. According to the type of adaptability, the following varieties were selected for extensive technology: Velikan, Slavny, Divny, Abalak, Kerzhak, for resource-saving: Astana 2000, Arna, Tselinny-60, Grace, Eifel and intensive technology: KWS Salome, Vakula, Prairie, Paustiana, Ara, Kudesnik, recommended for the corresponding cultivation technologies.