With increasing interest in soil health issues, interest in use of cover crop practices has grown. Methods to determine the effectiveness of cover crop practices on soil health are diverse. Soil enzymatic activity and soil microbial functions can reflect the health of a soil ecosystem and are linked to soil carbon, nutrient cycling and soil structure properties among many other xiii soil characteristics. An investigation of soil health on a watershed scale was implemented on a Missouri claypan soil association in Chariton County, Missouri.