After a wet harvest, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen is requesting Morgan and Fentress counties in eastern Tennessee be named federal natural disaster areas, WATE-TV Channel 6 reported on Sunday. Phil Mehlhorn, a cattle farmer from Wartburg, said he has had one tough year. "You just survive if you can. That's what I'm doing, surviving," Mehlhorn said. Excessive rainfall last fall has taken a toll on his Morgan County farm, he said. The wet weather reduced the quality of some of his hay crop and it also forced him to plant less hay last year. Mehlhorn and other farmers in the area may soon have access to emergency loans and supplemental farm payments because of the request by the governor. While he is not completely sold on the idea of taking a loan out, Mehlhorn did say the money could help many row-crop farmers in his area. They are worse off, with some reporting losses ranging from 20 to 50 percent. "When you've got to work the ground it has to be dry, and that didn't happen," he said. Other east Tennessee counties already eligible for federal farm assistance include Claiborne, Cocke, Sevier and Union counties.

(WATE-TV Channel 6 (Knoxville, Tenn.), February 7, 2010)

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