To scourge the land is an older farming term for extracting maximum yield from a field year after year without applying fertilizer, manure, or planting cover crops. This predatory practice rapidly mines the soil of essential macronutrients and organic matter. Eventually, scourged land becomes sterile and prone to erosion, requiring years of intensive remediation to restore its productive capacity.
The previous tenant scourged that back field with continuous corn, and now it won't even grow a decent weed.
Related terms
Soil fertility
The capacity of soil to provide essential nutrients and a suitable environment for plant growth.
Monoculture
The practice of growing a single crop species over a wide area for consecutive seasons.
Fallow
Cultivated land that is deliberately left unplanted for one or more growing seasons to recover its fertility.