The U.S. Agriculture Department cited drought and heat on Wednesday in designating 597 counties in 14 states as primary natural disaster areas.

‘As drought persists, USDA will continue to partner with producers to see them through longer-term recovery, while taking the swift actions needed to help farmers and ranchers prepare their land and operations for the upcoming planting season,’ Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

The designations make qualified farmers in the areas eligible for low-interest loans, the agency said.

Affected counties have suffered severe drought for eight consecutive weeks, which qualified them for the automatic designation.

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The announcement comes a day after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that 2012 had been the hottest year on record for the continental United States and the second-worst for ‘extreme’ weather such as hurricanes, droughts or floods.

The year’s average temperature of 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit across the ‘Lower 48’ was more than 3.2 degrees warmer than the average for the 20th Century, NOAA reported. That topped the previous record, set in 1998, by a full degree.

Drought shriveled crops across the farm belt, leading to an expected rise in food prices in 2013, according to USDA. It also turned forests of the mountain […]