However, if the farmer has livestock to feed, then he may
elect to sacrifice the cover crop as forage and use that to feed
them. Or he may elect to sell off the forage for profit. In this
situation, conventional-tillage forage required only 144 kg
inorganic N/ha fertilizer while the no-tillage forage required 179
kg N/ha to reach the N sufficiency level at which they both had
equal dry weights. Thus it would cost the farmer $23.10/ha more in
N fertilizer to maintain a healthy crop under no-tillage forage
than conventional-tillage forage. However, factoring in wear and
tear on the machinery and the extra labor that conventional-tillage
carries, as well as the erosion prevention and soil conservation
benefits that no-tillage offers, the no-tillage foraging of the
clover could be the BMP in the long run.

 The estimated dry weight of the conventional-tillage forage
scheme under rye was 20.88 g at the sufficiency level while the no-
tillage mulch weighed 18.09 g. That means that at the same
sufficiency level, the leaves under the conventional tillage forage
scheme would weigh approximately 13.4% more than those under the
no-tillage mulch scheme. No-tillage mulch may cost $17.82 more in
N fertilizer and be slightly smaller in dry weight at the
sufficiency level than conventional-tillage forage, but the farmer
saves money in the benefits of no-tillage. If the farmer needed
that forage, then no-tillage forage would be a better method then
conventional-tillage forage. The cost to the farmer would be
$57.42 more in N fertilizer to maintain a healthy crop under no-
tillage forage than under conventional-tillage forage. Yet, in the
long run, factoring soil conservation, resource conservation, and
labor, no-tillage could and be the BMP if the farmer plans to sell
off the forage or use it to feed his livestock.

 The first hypothesis proved partially incorrect. The cover
crops of crimson clover and rye alone did not satisfy the N
requirements of corn. On the average, the cover crop of rye did
not affect the corn ear leaf area, dry weight, or N concentration.
However, crimson clover did affect the ear leaf N concentration
(Table 5). When the cover crop clover was left on the plot in form
of green manure or mulch, there was a higher N concentration as
opposed to the fallow (no cover crop), and forage (cover crop taken
off the plot). However, the clover had no significant effect on
the average ear leaf area and dry weight.

 The second hypothesis proved completely incorrect. Inorganic
N fertilizer was needed to meet the N requirements of corn (Table
8). The inorganic N fertilizer increased, on the average, the ear
leaf area, ear leaf weight, and ear leaf N concentration of the
corn under crimson clover cover. The fertilizer also increased the
ear leaf area, and dry weight of corn ear leaf under rye cover but
due to the dilution effect the ear leaf N concentration under rye
did not increase with the first addition of N fertilizer but did
increase thereafter.