Abstract The saturation extraction method for measuring available B in soil provided variable results and a narrower range thus making this test more difficult to interpret than tests with the boiling water method. No close relationship between available soil B and either soil texture or soil pH level was found. The available B in soil ranged from 0.16 to 0.95 ppm with the highest level reflecting the recent use of B. The B level in the profiles of three typical sugarbeet‐bean soils ranged from none detectable in the subsoil to 0.54 ppm in the surface soil. A survey of cropped versus uncropped soils showed that, on the average, cropped soil contained two‐thirds as much B as uncropped soil, suggesting that more extensive B deficiencies may occur in the future. Soil test levels for B in a calcareous soil decreased rapidly after B application. In this experiment soil B levels in excess of 1.5 ppm represented a potentially toxic condition for beans while any level above 2.0 ppm represented a definite toxicity. The bean plant B threshold level was in excess of 100 ppm. In the range of potential toxicity, bean yields and B soil tests were more closely related than were bean yields and B plant tests.