Tractor Supply ends support for DEI, Pride, and carbon goals

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’s 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 press release. “We’ve heard from customers that we’ve disappointed them. We take that feedback very seriously.”

Tractor Supply said it has invested millions of dollars in veterans causes, state fairs, animal shelters, rodeos 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 promotes agricultural education for middle- and middle-income high school girls.

The retailer was previously named to Newsweek’s list of America’s Most Diverse Workplaces in 2023 and was named to the 2022 and 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index.

The publicly traded company is worth about $29 billion. CNBC contacted Tractor Supply for more details on the changes, and the company declined to comment beyond the release.

These changes come amid a growing wave of anti-diversity, equity and inclusion sentiment in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision in 2023 to strike down affirmative action in colleges. Experts at the time expected that the ruling would have implications for employment or employment in 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 college students of Black, Latino and Native American descent, the Associated Press reported.