Once considered a ‘special crop' in cereal-based cropping systems in the Northern Great Plains, pulse crops are now routinely grown for food, feed and forage. Dominated by pea, lentil, bean, and chickpea in the Northern Great Plains, pulse production accounted for a significant percentage of the total harvested acres in 2004, and acreage continues to increase. One important benefit of pulse crop production is the ability of these crops to form symbiotic associations with N-fixing Rhizobium bacteria, thereby reducing the dependence of pulse crops on inorganic N fertilizers. Moreover, N benefits extend beyond the year of the pulse, with enhanced soil N availability typically observed in subsequent years. The enhanced N availability has led many commercial soil testing labs to reduce fertilizer N recommendations for crops grown following pulses by assigning ‘N credits', which typically are based on estimates of the pulse crop yield and residue quality (i.e., crop grown). However, the manner in which N credits are calculated, and the ultimate magnitude of these credits varies widely between labs, in part reflecting the controversy that currently exists in the literature regarding the true nature of the N benefit. For example, some have suggested that the N benefit following pulse production is largely due to enhanced mineralization of pulse residues relative to cereal residues, whereas others have suggested that the N benefit reflects greater N returns related to N fixation and N-sparing in the year of the pulse. We present a summary of the current research regarding the N economy of pulse crop production and suggest areas of future research that will allow us to maximize pulse crop N benefits.