U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) campaigned alongside Minnesota Republican Tafoya this week, pressing two federal priorities tied directly to farm income: completion of a new farm bill and year-round E15 sales at retail pumps nationwide.

The Minnesota stop gave Thune a venue to merge biofuel policy with the next farm law into a single rural pitch. Both priorities sit in the same lane — federal decisions on corn demand and commodity support — and both remain unresolved as the campaign cycle advances.

What does Thune want on E15?

Year-round E15 would lift the summer restriction on retail sales of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol. EPA rules now block most E15 pumps from June 1 through September 15 under Reid vapor pressure (RVP) limits set to curb evaporative emissions during warm-weather driving.

The summer waiver has been a recurring ask from ethanol producers, corn grower associations and Midwest governors, who argue that unrestricted E15 expands a domestic outlet for corn, trims petroleum imports and supports rural refinery margins. By bringing that ask to Minnesota — a top-tier corn state — Thune frames E15 access as a farm income question first and an energy question second.

Why does the farm bill appear here?

The farm bill reference points to the unfinished reauthorization of the 2018 farm law, which expired in 2023. Congress has run short-term extensions while conferees continue to negotiate over:

• Commodity reference prices
• Crop insurance subsidies
• Conservation reserve acreage
• Nutrition spending

For Minnesota's corn, soybean and sugar beet rotations, the commodity title carries more direct margin impact than any other section of the legislation. Pairing E15 access with farm bill timing on a single campaign stop links both federal decisions to the same producer income statement — the calculation that drives operating loan renewal, cash rent bids and the next round of seed decisions.

What does the visit say about rural strategy?

Thune's joint appearance with Tafoya signals that Republicans intend to lean on agricultural and energy policy in Minnesota's rural counties. Corn-belt districts have shifted competitively in recent cycles, and the biofuel-plus-farm-bill combination gives candidates a unified economic pitch to farm voters regardless of partisan baseline.

What's next on the policy track?

Two federal tracks could deliver on either priority. EPA can act administratively on a summertime RVP waiver without legislation. Conferees can close a deal on the farm bill commodity and conservation titles and move a conference report to both chambers.

Neither path is closed, but neither is finished. Until one or both move, Minnesota farmers face another summer of restricted E15 access and another crop year working under an extended farm law rather than a reauthorized one.