NASHVILLE (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam has asked federal officials for a natural disaster designation for 14 counties due to excessive heat and drought during the summer and fall.

The counties are Blount, Cumberland, Fayette, Fentress, Haywood, Loudon, McMinn, Macon, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott and Wilson.

Haslam announced Wednesday that he made the request to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. A designation would make farmers eligible to apply for lost income recovery, low-interest loans and other disaster assistance through the USDA Farm Service Agency.

After experiencing heavy rains and flooding early in the growing season, many areas saw record high average temperatures and drought from July to October. Farmers reported crop losses ranging from 30 to 50 percent for corn, soybeans, tobacco, pastures and hay and some commercial vegetable crops.