In 2024, some conservative figures started calling out Tractor Supply for the DEI and LGBTQ+ initiatives it had in place. In the fear of a boycott, the company announced it would eliminate its non-business activities, including DEI efforts, LGBTQ+ events, and carbon emission goals. This started the Tractor Supply controversy.

Our experts at Business2Community have gathered all the data related to the controversy in one place, so you have a comprehensive overview of what happened to Tractor Supply. This article includes quotes, social media posts, and background information explaining what led the company to drop its DEI initiatives.

Tractor Supply Controversy – Key Facts

  • In June 2024, Tractor Supply received backlash for the DEI initiatives, LGBTQ+ events, and carbon emission goals it had had in place for the previous three years.
  • A couple of weeks after the backlash, Tractor Supply announced it would eliminate its non-business activities, including the DEI program, Pride events, and carbon emission goals.
  • The company declined to comment on its decision although it was approached by several news outlets.

The Story of the Tractor Supply Controversy

The Tractor Supply controversy can be traced back to a conservative backlash when right-wing groups criticized the company’s DEI initiatives and climate goals. After a three-week boycott, the company announced it would stop DEI and other non-business activities.

About Tractor Supply

With over 2,000 stores across 49 states, Tractor Supply is an American rural lifestyle retailer. The company sells DIY tools for farms, ranches, and homes. Its products are wide-ranging and include clothes, pet food, tractor parts, garden supplies, mowers, and more.

Statistics about Tractor Supply company

Tractor Supply defines its customer base as farmers, horse owners, ranchers, part-time and hobby farmers, homeowners, contractors, and tradespersons in rural America.

Hal Lawton has been the company’s CEO since 2020. Under Lawton, Tractor Supply set targets for new sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) goals. These goals were announced in 2021 and included:

  • Reducing carbon emissions by 20% by 2025, and 50% by 2030
  • Having net zero emissions by 2040
  • Increasing People of Color at the manager level and above by 50%
  • Increasing its funding to programs for Black and African Americans by 30%

Conservatives Boycott Tractor Supply

On June 6, 2024, movie director turned conservative activist Robby Starbuck shared a video on X, formerly Twitter. In his video, he criticized Tractor Supply’s corporate leadership for having LGBTQIA+ training, DEI hiring initiatives, and climate change activism in place.

Starbuck asked his followers to take a stance against these initiatives by emailing the company. He also suggested consumers stop shopping ay Tractor Supply until it changed its corporate policies.

For three more weeks, Starbuck consistently shared posts about Tractor Supply and called on his followers to boycott the company.

Certain other right-wing groups and activists joined Starbuck in boycotting Tractor Supply.

Tractor Supply Eliminates DEI Roles

According to the Financial Times, the social media backlash worked, knocking off 5% of the Tractor Supply shares in the first month of the controversy. Only three weeks after the backlash, Tractor Supply announced it would end its DEI initiatives and climate efforts.

“We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them. We have taken this feedback to heart. Going forward, we will ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our business,” wrote the company in its press release, saying it would no longer do the following:

  • Submit data to the Human Rights Campaign
  • Sponsor non-business activities like Pride events and voting campaigns
  • Include DEI roles
  • List carbon emissions goals

Some outlets argued that Tractor Supply took this decision to avoid a boycott like Bud Light experienced. In 2023, the beer brand collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote its Easy Carry Contest on social media. After a boycott from its conservative customers, Bud Light experienced a drop in its sales and lost its spot as the top beer in the US.

National Black Farmers Association Call for CEO Hal Lawton’s Resignation

After the DEI announcement, the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) called for the resignation of CEO Hal Lawton.

John Boyd Jr, president of the NFBA, said that Tractor Supply’s decision implied they don’t want the NBFA’s business. “This sends the wrong message to our country at a time when we’re going backward on race relations,” he continued. Besides being the association’s president, Boyd is a fourth-generation farmer and a Tractor Supply shareholder.

Tractor Supply Declines to Comment

Various news outlets, including the Associated Press, NPR, and CNN reported on the controversy. However, Tractor Supply declined to comment beyond the public statement it shared. CEO Hal Lawton didn’t make an announcement on his personal X account either.

In 2023, only a year earlier, the company was recognized as one of the most diverse companies in the US, both by the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and Newsweek’s list of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity.

Tractor Supply news release titled Tractor Supply Recognized for Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

The Consequences of the Tractor Supply Controversy

It’s still early to see the long-term sales impact of Tractor Supply’s reversal of its DEI initiatives. So far, the biggest consequence of the controversy has been mixed reactions and the escalating culture war.

Mixed Reactions

Robby Starbuck and other right-wing activists declared victory and even called it the “single biggest boycott win” of their lifetimes.

Others were not happy about the decision. Tennessee Assembly member Senator Charlane Oliver criticized the company, especially for choosing the same month as Juneteenth and Pride to make such an announcement.

Criticisms from Activists, Former Employees, and Customers

Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign, called the company’s decision shortsighted and said it was turning its back on its own neighbors.

“LGBTQ+ people live in every zip code in this country, including rural communities. We are shoppers, farmers, veterans, and agriculture students. Caving to far-right extremists is only going to hurt the same folks that these businesses rely on,” said Bloem, drawing attention to the LGBTQ+ community living in rural areas.

Ambrook Research reported on the LGBTQ+ employees who quit their jobs at Tractor Supply, and customers who said they would no longer shop there. “Here’s a company that was being proactive in DEI, and then just turned on a dime to side with this bigoted minority,” said a former employee who was disappointed in the company’s decision.

“Farmers are extremely concerned about greenhouse gases and the impact of climate change on crop yields, water usage, et cetera. Tractor Supply clearly doesn’t understand the true challenges that farms face, and worse still, are actively exacerbating those challenges for farmers by reneging on carbon emissions goals,” said another farmer to Ambrook Research, criticizing Tractor Supply for not understanding its customer base.

“Many companies are ‘turning back.’ It seems that retracting is now the trend,” said Nooshin Warren from the University of Arizona to CNN. Tractor Supply’s reversal made people think of Bud Light, which ended its partnership with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target, which limited its Pride-themed collection in its stores.

Fortune argued that the company’s decision to please its conservative critics could alienate its other customers. According to Fortune, professional farmers make up only 10% of Tractor Supply’s customer base, down from 90% when it first started business in 1938.

In a 2021 interview with Fortune, CEO Hal Lawton said the typical Tractor Supply store had started seeing younger customers. These customers are not necessarily aligned with the more conservative rural demographic, which may create problems for the company moving forward.

Fortune article titled Tractor Supply’s DEI reversal to appease right-wing critics could fracture its surprisingly diverse ‘exurban’ customer base

Tractor Supply Stock Price

While a little early to see any long-term effects on the company’s stock price, there have been significant peaks and troughs in the price over the last three months. As the campaign to boycott Tractor Supply gathered pace, the company’s stock hit a 2024 high of $290.38 on June 18. By July 9, the price had plunged to a low of $260.16, a price not seen since its price spike in April of the same year.

tractor supply stock price

What Can We Learn From the Tractor Supply Controversy?

“A big mistake Tractor Supply made was assuming that the loudest people are in the majority,” said brand strategy advisor Charlotte Hellichius in an email interview with Forbes.

Toni Farmer, a Professor of Architecture who also has a degree in Marketing, had similar comments. “I understand you received pressure when you made your original DEI and climate initiative statement and I also get that you want to honor your base, rural farmers who have been the majority of your business for decades. But times are changing and I believe you are on the wrong side,” wrote Toni Farmer on Threads, in an open letter to Tractor Supply Co.

toni farmer threads

We can deduce the following lessons from the controversy:

  • Social media influence doesn’t always represent the majority opinion: As Charlotte Hellichius pointed out, Tractor Supply may have made a rushed decision. Eliminating DEI efforts can alienate certain customers, and the company should have analyzed the situation more in detail.
  • Demographics can change: Tractor Supply’s core customer base has historically been rural farmers, but today, the company’s audience includes a more diverse, exurban demographic. Such demographic shifts mean that businesses must adapt to changing audiences. In this case, we’re talking about a younger audience that is more sensitive to LGBTQ+ issues, DEI, and climate change. Moreover, more Gen Z people identify as LGBTQ+ compared to previous generations, as per a focus group survey by the Public Religion Research Institute.
  • Inconsistency can damage the brand: Tractor Supply failed to stand by its initial DEI initiatives. It also refused to comment on the reasons when asked by several news outlets. Businesses need to show consistency, especially when they’re related to core values. The inability to stand by their values can further alienate customers, as it did with the Bud Light controversy. When the beer company didn’t reach out to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney after the anti-trans boycott, it received criticism from the LGBTQ+ community.

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