JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Measures advancing in the Missouri Legislature would limit the scope of rules that local governments can slap on large animal feeding operations.

House lawmakers on Thursday voted 101-42 to pass a bill to give county sheriffs and federal or state agencies with authority over farms the exclusive right to inspect them.

Operations that would be covered under the proposal include facilities that produce eggs, dairy products, livestock or poultry, or the raising “of dogs or other animals that are not used to produce any food product.”

The bill by Republican Rep. Kent Haden would mean that counties couldn’t enforce health ordinances or zoning laws over certain livestock facilities, said Brian Smith, a lobbyist and organizer for the Missouri Rural Crisis Center, a statewide network that works to preserve family farms, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Haden said county health officials lack the expertise to regulate the large operations, and that often local governments are biased against the facilities.

“They do not have the training, they don’t have consistency,” Haden said. “And, again, almost all of the health ordinances are designed to prohibit, not to allow.”

Republican Sen. Mike Bernskoetter is sponsoring a related bill that would ban counties from enacting rules that are “inconsistent with or more stringent” than state regulations. The proposal would prevent counties from regulating where livestock facilities are built and from adopting rules to reduce hazardous smells.

“One (bill) is saying you can’t do a health ordinance and the other is saying you can’t enforce a health ordinance,” Smith said.

Opponents argue that emissions from the large farms, which include hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, can pose health risks for neighbors.

Senators debated the measure Tuesday but took no action.

Roughly 20 Missouri counties already have health ordinances that deal with concerns about hazardous odors and downstream pollution caused by concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, according to the University of Missouri Extension.

Blake Hurst, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau, said Bernskoetter’s legislation would ensure “that regulation of CAFOs is uniform across the state,” which he said would be good for business.

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Governor Mike Parson today told groups of farmers and volunteer responders he expects to request a federal disaster declaration next week, based on preliminary damage assessments being conducted in 16 Missouri counties in response to historic flooding.

Governor Parson said damage assessments have been conducted or will soon be conducted in Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Carroll, Chariton, Holt, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Platte, Ray, Ste. Genevieve, and Scott counties. He said continuing high water levels are preventing crews from assessing damage in Cape Girardeau and Pike counties, but assessments will take place there as soon as possible.

“Our preliminary damage assessment teams have more work to do tallying the damage, but it’s already clear that the flooding had devastating effects on homes, roads, bridges, and other essential infrastructure,” said Governor Parson. “There’s no doubt federal recovery assistance is warranted to help Missouri families and businesses rebuild and keep their communities moving forward.”

China may remove bans on U.S. poultry imports, but not on ractopamine-treated pork. As the U.S. and China seek to conclude trade negotiations, and African swine fever consumes China’s hog production, the U.S. has asked China to remove its ractopamine ban.

Reuters says China has resisted the move for pork, but seems receptive to lifting a ban on U.S. poultry. Data from Rabobank shows African swine fever seems likely to reduce China’s pork output by 30 percent this year. China will need exports to offset the losses, but the exports could come from other suppliers, depending on the outcome of the U.S.-China trade negotiations.

Ractopamine is used to promote growth in U.S. pork and China banned its use in livestock in 2002. Meanwhile, China banned U.S. poultry in 2015 during the avian influenza outbreak. Before the ban, the U.S. shipped $390 million worth of U.S. poultry to China. The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council values China’s poultry market at $500 million, representing a major opportunity for U.S. producers.

President Donald Trump is threatening more tariffs against the European Union if the EU doesn’t bring agriculture to the trade negotiation table. Trump has threatened tariffs on European cars and auto parts imports, a move the EU has previously said it would abandon the talks over, according to Politico.

The EU agreed to move forward with the trade talks earlier this week, but reiterated that agriculture will not be part of the negotiation. The refusal to include agriculture makes any deal with the EU uncertain, as lawmakers from farm states have threatened the potential agreement would not pass Congress.

Agriculture groups are urging the Trump administration to demand agriculture be included in the negotiation, citing biotechnology and pesticide regulations in the European Union, among other issues. If Trump goes ahead with the auto tariffs, the EU seems likely to retaliate with tariffs on U.S. wine and dairy. The EU is also seeking the removal of section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. “prior to the conclusion” of negotiations.

The U.S. and Japan this week agreed to accelerate trade talks to advance a trade agreement. The first round of talks focused on agriculture and cars, according to Bloomberg News. Japan’s Economic Revitalization Minister will meet again next week with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to continue the negotiation.

Japan is seeking to avoid U.S. tariffs on cars exported to the U.S., while President Trump is seeking greater access for agricultural goods to Japan and many measures similar to those found in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Farm groups are pressing the administration to reach an agreement quickly to counter lost market share in Japan from competitors that were included in the TPP replacement.

Trump removed the U.S. from TPP upon taking office, and the member countries moved forward with an agreement that allowed Japan to import 60 percent more beef from TPP nations. Further, U.S. pork exports to Japan have dropped around 35 percent this year, since the new TPP agreement was enacted.

Farmland damaged by spring flooding is at risk of declining values, according to Farmers National Company, a farm management, real estate and auction service. The company says there will be short term and longer-term effects on flooded farmland and its value, depending on if farmers can plant and grow a crop this year, and future production forecasts.

Farmers National notes that the value of farmland depends on the income it can generate and how consistent production is. The less income the land produces, and the riskier production is each year, will impact long term land values. The concerns come as the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank last week reported that overall, risks of further declines in farmland values have increased.

Those risks, among other indications, include a recent increase in farmland sales in some states that suggests a decline in farmland values could be on the horizon. A Persistently low volume of land sales has contributed to the stability of farmland values through an economic downturn.

Some in agriculture fear a trade deal with China will leave farm trade worse off than before the trade war began. Bloomberg News reports that some farmers are unnerved by Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs and his tendency to pick industry winners and losers.

Mark Powers, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, says tariffs are expected to remain on cherries this year, adding the retaliatory tariffs costs Northwest cherry growers $96 million last year, as sales dropped 41 percent. President Trump has previously said of the negotiations that tariffs on China would be lasting “a substantial period of time” after an agreement is entered.

Agriculture groups fear that would allow China to continue retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural products. However, Jim Sutter of the U.S. Soybean Export Council told Bloomberg it doesn’t seem likely the tariffs would continue, stating he “would be surprised if the Chinese found that an acceptable solution.” Talks between the U.S. and China continue as the Trump administration seeks to wrap up an agreement soon.