Strip tillage has gained adoption in recent years with the availability of improved tillage equipment that can prepare a seedbed and place fertilizer in one tillage pass. Nitrogen management, including optimal N rates and placement, is an important concern for sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) growers. A 2‐yr study was conducted at Huntley, MT, under flood and sprinkler irrigation to determine if N rates should be adjusted for different tillage and irrigation systems, and to determine if N placement improved sugar beet root yield and quality. Three tillage treatments were compared: conventional tillage with fertilizer broadcast (CT); strip tillage with fertilizer broadcast (ST); and strip tillage with fertilizer banded (SN). Five N rates were randomly applied to plots within each tillage treatment. Check plots were included each year to verify a response to applied N. Averaged over 2 yr, root yield was 3 Mg ha−1 higher under flood irrigation. The CT had higher sugar beet root yield and recoverable sucrose than either ST or SN treatments under flood irrigation. Sugar beets grown under different tillage, and irrigation systems, responded similarly to N fertilizer in both years. Combined results over the 2 yr indicated no significant N × tillage or N × irrigation interactions which implied that fertilizer‐N recommendations do not need to be adjusted for tillage or irrigation system. Moreover, no difference between SN and ST treatments were observed (p = 0.5377) for recoverable sucrose which suggested that banding nutrients with a strip tillage implement did not improve efficiency.