“It’s likely we will go from May 29 through June 13 with only 0.02 inches rain,” KCRG-TV9 meteorologist Justin Gehrts wrote Thursday in The Gazette.
Only once since 1892 has the Cedar Rapids metro area recorded a drier early June, he said.
Following a windy weekend with hot temperatures, the lack of June rain will become more obvious this week.
Farmers, those most susceptible to the vagaries of weather, will perceive in it the potential for reduced yields.
In the 2012 drought, still fresh in most Iowans’ memories, the state’s average corn and soybean yields fell, respectively, to 137 bushels and 44.5 bushels per acre — a reduction of 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively, from the average yields of the preceding four years.
Rising grain prices during the growing season, combined with federal crop insurance, cushioned the blow for most grain farmers, while livestock producers, for whom federal insurance was not available, suffered with hay and pasture shortages and increased costs for their principal input.
As the drought wore on, we all became increasingly irritable, waiting for relief from torrid July heat and a refreshing of the parched landscape.
While I would never wish for a drought, I prefer my summer weather a little on the dry side.
Farmers will recall 2016, with abundant rains falling before anyone noticed they were needed, as a year of record corn and soybean crops — a year of perfect weather, many of them would say.
It’s not there yet, as I write this, but it is falling steadily toward that level and will likely reach it this week.

This CRS Insight short note, Implementation of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Amendments (P.L.
114-182) on June 22, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been implementing the act’s amendments to Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA; 15 U.S.C.
EPA has proposed a rule to require reporting from chemical manufacturers to support such agency determinations (82 Federal Register 4255, January 13, 2017).
Prioritization of Chemicals for Risk Evaluation and Chemical Risk Evaluations P.L.
114-182 amended TSCA to direct EPA to prioritize existing chemicals for risk evaluation to determine whether such chemicals present unreasonable risks.
Risk evaluations for these chemicals were completed prior to enactment of P.L.
New Chemical and Significant New Use Reviews With regard to new chemicals and significant new uses of existing chemicals, TSCA as amended requires the agency to determine, prior to their introduction into commerce, whether such chemicals or uses present unreasonable risk.
If the agency has insufficient information to determine whether a new chemical or significant new use presents unreasonable risks, TSCA authorizes EPA to require the development of new information for purposes of making such a determination.
114-182, EPA had discretionary authority to review new chemicals and significant new uses and was not required to make a determination regarding unreasonable risk.
It remains to be seen which additional chemicals EPA would prioritize for risk evaluation, which chemicals would be determined to present unreasonable risks, what regulatory controls would be proposed and finalized, whether stakeholders would challenge EPA decisions in court, and the outcome of any litigation.

‘Gloom’ and doom when these insects are on hot, dry red maple trees.
This is because the arthropods feed and thrive on them, especially in warm and dry urban landscapes, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researcher says.
Dale’s new research is important as residents and urban landscapers decide when and where to plant red maple trees, which are native and widely distributed in North America from Florida to Canada and whose canopy helps cool urban areas.
He wanted to know how the gloomy scale, an insect widely distributed around the eastern and southeastern U.S., would respond to hot, dry weather – conditions typical for urban trees.
Researchers studied urban red maple trees at various temperatures around the city.
At the end of 2015, they collected gloomy scales from each tree, measured their body size, dissected them and counted the number of eggs the insects produced, Dale said.
They then looked at the relationship between the temperature in the tree’s canopy and whether the tree was irrigated.
Scientists wanted to see if either factor had an effect on the insects’ body size or egg production.
The hotter and drier the trees were, the more eggs the gloomy scales produced.
Since the gloomy scale benefits from warming and drought — two features common to urban landscapes — and urban landscapes are rapidly expanding, there is a potential for this pest to proliferate and cause even more problems in the future.” Urban foresters and landscape architects can use the study’s findings by selecting more appropriate trees to be planted where heat and drought stress may be likely, Dale said.

TOM PALMER: Drought is hard on butterlfies.
The current drought has affected much more than your lawn-watering day, providing you haven’t already moved on and converted turf to native landscaping.
One count was in the Green Swamp.
Except for one common roadside species called dainty sulfur, common butterfly species were hard to find.
We had a mild winter and there’s no shortage of wildflowers.
The experience was no different in other habitats where I find woodland or swamp species.
Participants in the Green Swamp count found Dukes’ skippers, which is a rare species being surveyed statewide.
It was the first time I’d seen one in flight in years.
The shortage in butterflies and other pollinators will eventually end as it has during previous weather-related setbacks.
The National Wildlife Federation is sponsoring a Bring Home The Bees campaign to certify your garden as pollinator-friendly wildlife habitat.

From the State Water Resources Control Board: Update on Statewide Mercury Control Program for Reservoirs Questionnaire to Reservoir Owners and Operators In preparation for upcoming stakeholder meetings to discuss options for reservoir pilot studies, the State Water Board will be administering a questionnaire to inquire about fisheries and water chemistry management practices and feedback on potential pilot test options.
Reservoir owners and operators whose reservoir(s) will be included under this program will receive a certified letter containing the questionnaire web link within 10 business days from now.
The reservoir owners and operators will have 45 days to complete the questionnaire.
Please note that the reservoir owner and operator may need to collaborate with one another to answer the questions thoroughly.
The list of reservoirs and their associated owners and operators receiving the questionnaire is attached to this e-mail.
Subsequent to receiving feedback from the reservoir owners and operators, staff will summarize the questionnaire data and make this available to the reservoir owners and operators.
Staff Report and Provisions Submitted to Scientific Peer Review The Statewide Mercury Control Program for Reservoirs is in the process of submitting a draft staff report and proposed regulatory language to external scientific peer review and expects the review to be completed by late summer 2017.
During the peer review process, the documents will be posted on our website, http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/mercury/reservoirs/ to facilitate discussions with stakeholders.
Please note that no public comments will be accepted on the documents submitted to peer review.
After the scientific peer review comments are received and addressed, the Water Boards will release a revised staff report and Provisions for formal public review.

8 dead as storm brings rain to drought-hit Cape Town.
At least eight people were killed in a storm that swept into the Cape Town area, which has been suffering from a severe drought, South African authorities said Wednesday.
One outlet, Jacaranda FM, attributed the death toll of eight to James-Brent Styan, a provincial official.
Cape Town workers said they had taken measures to protect some poor residents, who live in sprawling neighborhoods of makeshift homes.
However, hundreds of homes were flooded or damaged, authorities said.
The storm forced President Jacob Zuma, who was in Cape Town, to cancel a speech to an international media conference in Durban, a city on the Indian Ocean coastline, his office said.
He was due to address an annual congress organized by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers.
While the storm provided some drought relief, officials said sustained rainfall over several years is needed in a city whose reservoirs are at low levels.
Cape Town recently announced restrictions on water use.
On Wednesday, authorities urged residents to capture rain from the storm in containers for flushing toilets and other needs.

WARDER, Ethiopia — Ethiopia’s government is warning it will run out of emergency food aid starting next month as the number of drought victims in the East African country has reached 7.8 million. An international delegation visited one of the worst-affected areas Friday near the border with Somalia, which suffers from widespread drought as well. Ethiopia’s disaster relief chief Mitiku Kassa told The Associated Press that the country needs more than $1 billion for emergency food assistance. Seasonal rains have been critically small and local cattle are dying. The number of drought victims has risen by two million people in the past four months. The risk of an acute food and nutritional disaster is “very high,” the disaster relief chief said….

9 June 2017 – Protracted fighting and unrest are swelling the ranks of displaced and hungry ins some parts of the world, even as large agricultural harvests in some regions are buoying global food supply conditions, according to a new report by the United Nations agriculture agency.
“Civil conflict continues to be a main driver of food insecurity, having triggered famine conditions in South Sudan and put populations in Yemen and northern Nigeria at high risk of localized famine,” said the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on today’s release its Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.
Refugees from civil strife in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Central African Republic are putting additional pressure on local food supplies in host communities.
In Somalia, about 3.2 million people need food and agricultural emergency assistance, while in Yemen the figure is as high as 17 million.
According to FAO, 37 countries require external assistance for food, namely Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
Southern Africa rebounds, East Africa is parched While worldwide cereal output is near record levels, production outcomes are mixed across the globe.
According to the report, South America is expected to post strong increases, led by Brazil and Argentina.
This should help to reduce food insecurity in countries, such as Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
However, at the start of the 2017 season, East Africa has suffered insufficient rainfall, armyworm infestations and local conflicts, leaving in the sub-region a record 26.5 million people in need humanitarian assistance.
The report warns that the situation could be aggravated further as the lean season peaks, saying, “An estimated 7.8 million people are food insecure in Ethiopia, where drought has dented crop and pasture output in southern regions.” Moreover, cereal domestic prices reached exceptionally high levels in May, with the local cost of maize jumping by as much as 65 per cent this year in parts of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Things to consider in drought.
The current June 6 U.S. Drought Monitor shows that more than three-fourths of South Dakota is under abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions.
Things to consider during drought conditions: Weeds under drought conditions tend to show more tolerance to applied herbicides that those growing under optimal conditions because plants may develop a thicker wax layer on the leaf surface to conserve moisture which can obstruct the herbicide absorption.
Systemic herbicides such as Roundup and SU herbicides are known to have reduced effects during hot and dry conditions.
Weather factors can influence insect populations quite dramatically, both in favor of and against the growing crops.
One of the groups of insects to lookout for during hot and dry conditions are grasshoppers.
Both grass mite and twospotted spider mite populations can increase in response to drought conditions.
Under dry conditions, plants may show moderate to severe nutrient deficiency symptoms even when the soil contains adequate amount of nutrients needed for normal growth and development.
This will cause plants to show N-deficiency symptoms.
As grass forages are more likely to be fertilized with nitrogen, it is recommended to test for nitrates when these crops are grown under drought conditions.

IOM Launches $60 Million Drought Appeal for Horn of Africa.
The International Organization for Migration is appealing for $60 million to provide lifesaving assistance to millions of victims of the worst drought to hit East Africa in decades.
An estimated 16 million people in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti are affected by drought.
A recent sprinkling of rain is bringing some relief to the region, but the IOM regional director for East and Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Labovitz, says the rain has come too late and is not abundant enough to reach the level needed to mitigate the vulnerable condition of millions of people.
The IOM reports more than one million people within Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya have become internally displaced over the past six months because of severe drought conditions.
Labovitz tells VOA that warnings of famine so far have not materialized because of timely interventions by aid agencies; but, he notes, the crisis is far from over.
"In fact, we are adding millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance over the course of the last month," he said.
The last figure we heard was 5.6 million people in need of humanitarian assistance about a month ago.
And we think it is going to go much higher than that."
Between 50,000 and 100,000 people in Somalia leave their homes every week in search of drought relief, according to Labovitz.