Congress is going back to work in Washington and lawmakers are hoping to move another COVID relief package. However, South Dakota Senator John Thune says the Democrats and Republican in the Senate remain far apart on the level of spending.

The House passed more than $30 billion in relief for agriculture in the HEROES Act and the Senate’s HEALS Act had roughly $20 billion. Thune says even a compromise in the middle would be helpful.

Thune says Congress also gave USDA discretion to provide direct payments to the ethanol industry, despite Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue’s claim he doesn’t have that authority.

He says South Dakota farmers and ranchers have received $450 million so far in the CARES Act funding, but agriculture will need more to get through the current economic crisis.