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Drought, Irrigation Costs, and the Growing Threat to Farm Yields
Drought conditions are becoming more frequent and severe across the state
Tennessee has experienced drought conditions ranging from moderate (D1) to exceptional (D4) in recent growing seasons, impacting millions of acres of cropland.
Severe drought can reduce corn yields by 20% or more and significantly impact soybeans, cotton, and hay during critical growth periods.
Drought is the costliest natural disaster for U.S. agriculture annually, with losses regularly exceeding $6–8 billion per major event.
Climate variability has increased the frequency of drought events in Tennessee, with longer dry spells between rain events during critical crop growth periods.
Decades of conventional tillage and synthetic inputs have reduced soil organic matter, which directly impairs soil's ability to absorb and hold water for crops.
Farmers relying on irrigation to offset drought face sharply higher energy costs for pumping, plus increasing regulatory pressure on groundwater use in some regions.
Compacted, low-organic-matter soil repels water rather than absorbing it — meaning even when rain does fall, much of it runs off rather than reaching crop roots.
Most farmers think of water stress as a weather problem. But soil health is the real lever — healthy soil can hold significantly more water, dramatically reducing drought vulnerability.
Each 1% increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold approximately 20,000 additional gallons of water per acre. Healthy, biologically active soil acts like a sponge — absorbing rain quickly and releasing it slowly to crop roots during dry periods.
Beneficial soil microbes create aggregates — small clumps of soil particles — that improve water infiltration, reduce compaction, and create pore spaces for water and air movement. Without these microbes, soil becomes dense and water-repellent.
Farms with degraded soil biology are caught in a cycle: low organic matter leads to poor water retention, which increases drought stress, which reduces crop residue returns, which further reduces organic matter. Terreplenish® helps break this cycle.
Improve water efficiency through biological soil health
Terreplenish® improves soil structure and organic matter, enabling soil to hold more water and reducing crop water requirements.
Crops grown in Terreplenish®-treated soil show improved resilience during dry spells, maintaining productivity when untreated crops struggle.
As soil biology improves over multiple seasons, water retention continues to improve — making the investment pay back more each year.
Drought data for Tennessee is tracked by the National Integrated Drought Information System, a federal partnership including NOAA and USDA.
View Tennessee Drought Monitor ↗Build drought resilience from the ground up with Terreplenish®. Start with our risk-free pilot program.