Based on a recent analysis of 877 North Carolina Soybean Yield Contest entries, the strongest predictors of high soybean yield include the use of earlier than historically employed planting dates, earlier maturing varieties, and foliar fungicide use. This study seeks to provide North Carolina soybean producers with the foundational information needed to maximize soybean yield while protecting seed quality through manipulating soybean planting date and maturity group. This study also provides information on what seeding rate recommendations are merited as planting date and maturity group use changes. This research was employed at 8 North Carolina environments covering our diverse production regions in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, soybean yield was highest with late April to late May planting dates, whereas soybean yield was highest with early April planting dates in 2020. Yield was typically highest with MGIV and V varieties at planting dates prior to late May, while results indicate that growers have flexibility using MGIV-VII varieties at Mid-June and Mid-July planting dates. Seeding rate should increase as planting date in delayed, but there is not a strong relationship between maturity group and seeding rate at this point in the research. Typically captured flowering in the field was 0-10 d within that predicted using historical weather data in the SoyStage tool. Protein was typically higher and more stable across planting date with >MGV varieties. Soybean damage and purple seed stain were greatest with the earlier maturing varieties less than MGV planted before late April.