In the United States of America (USA) over the last several decades, soybean production has moved northward into the Red River of the North Valley (RRNV) region of Northwest Minnesota (MN) and Eastern North Dakota (ND). When averaged across two cultivars and environments, soybean root mass was 0.37 g root-system -1 higher on raised seedbeds. Averaged across hour of day, soil temperature was significantly higher in the raised seedbed treatments at Fargo and Hitterdal by 0.4 and 0.8 ☌, respectively. Soybean cultivars significantly differed in their IDC response and in most yield components measured. At the Rothsay environment, there was more IDC with flat seedbeds compared with raised beds. Across environments there were no differences in vigor, IDC, canopy closure, plant height, thousand kernel weights, seed protein or oil content, number of seeds or pods per plant, or grain yield comparing raised with flat seedbeds. Although grain yield did not increase on raised seedbeds, grain yield was not reduced in a dry year. Soybean grain yield on raised seedbeds, averaged across six drier environments in 2012, was similar to flat seedbeds. The objectives of this research were to evaluate soybean response to early season iron deficiency chlorosis (IDC), agronomic characteristics, and productivity when grown on raised seedbeds compared with flat seedbeds.
