The late autumn planting for winter varieties and early spring planting for spring varieties is a recommended agronomic practice in the production of malting barley to achieve optimal grain quality. Therefore, the main aim of this research was to determine the influence of planting dates in autumn and spring on the most important agronomic and economic traits of malting barley. The early autumn, late autumn and spring planting dates were investigated. Field experiments were conducted during one growing season with malting variety Planet planted at the recommended seeding rate. Crops planted in the late autumn and spring produced a significantly lower number of ears at harvest compared to the crop from the early autumn planting date. As a result, the crop planted in early autumn had the highest biological and grain yield, but failed to meet the malting quality due to the small proportion of grains larger than 2.5 mm. The crop produced in late autumn had a slightly higher protein content (11.6%) and a lower proportion of grains larger than 2.5 mm (83.9%) than the buyer’s grain quality requirements. Malting barley quality with regard to protein content and grain size was obtained only by the crop planted in spring, but with a 22% smaller grain yield compared to the crop from the early autumn planting date. In contrast to the findings for the biological yield, grain yield and grain quality, planting date showed no effect on the harvest index.