Tractor Supply Ends Support for DEI, Pride and Carbon Targets

This announcement comes in the final days of Pride Month.

Tractor Supply is also discontinuing initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact and improving employee diversity. The company had set goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in operations by 2040 and reduce its water use by 2025. Its diversity and inclusion goals included increasing the number of employees of color at the director level and above by 50% by 2026.

Tractor Supply said it is making changes to better represent the values ​​of the communities and customers it serves. The retailer serves largely rural communities, with 50,000 employees in 2,250 stores in 49 states, according to company data.

“Rural communities are the backbone of our nation and what makes America great,” Tractor Supply said in the news release. “We heard from customers that we disappointed them. We took that feedback very seriously.”

Tractor Supply said it has invested millions of dollars in veterans’ causes, state fairs, animal shelters, rodeo shows and farmers markets and that it is investing in the future of rural America by being the largest supporter of FFA, a nonprofit organization that works to promote agricultural education for middle and high school students.

The company was previously named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Workplaces for Diversity in 2023 and was named to the 2022 and 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index.

The publicly traded company has a market cap of about $29 billion. CNBC reached out to Tractor Supply for more details on the changes, and the company declined to comment after the statement.

The changes come amid a growing wave of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion sentiment following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision to strike down affirmative action at colleges. Experts at the time predicted the ruling would have implications for hiring or hiring at companies.

Companies including Starbucks, Disney and Target have faced legal challenges over DEI initiatives for LGBTQ customers and employees. In February 2023, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer dropped race-based eligibility requirements for a fellowship program designed for Black, Latino and Native American college students, the Associated Press reported.