A national farm & home retailer with 41 locations and millions of dollars in Kansas investment is under pressure to reinstitute the “woke” corporate ideology it recently abandoned, caught in a tug of war between two sides of modern politics and culture and trying to determine a path its customers will continue to support.
Tractor Supply’s stock price was at a high of $289.98 on June 18 but fell to a close June 25 of $264.56. It continued to fall past the June 27 announcement of the policy reversal to a July 9 close of $257.26 before seeing a rally to finish Friday at $271.07.
Nashville-area based Tractor Supply purchased Kansas’ Orscheln’s Farm Supply Stores in October 2022 as part of a 166-store, $320 million acquisition that spun off some stores to other retailers but transferred scores more to the TS brand. Like many corporate entities, the company made politically correct, public overtures to its commitment to fight climate change and pursue LGBTQ aggrandizement as a matter of its corporate ideology, at one point saying it was concerned the business could suffer if it did not meet a five-year diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) target to increase spending by 35% with diverse suppliers and boost representation of people of color at upper management levels by 50 percent, according to a CNN story.
But like the Bud Light controversy from last year that ravaged sales of the iconic beer brand after it affiliated with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Tractor Supply was targeted starting in 2022 by a less viral but apparently influential campaign of criticism by conservatives, beginning with Nashville podcaster Robby Starbuck, who promoted a boycott of the stores due to their woke embrace.
TS apparently felt the bite.
The company’s June 27 statement said it would cease its carbon emission reduction goals, end its hiring initiatives based on DEI and stop sponsoring gay pride festivals and Progressive voter registration efforts.
“We have heard from customers that we have disappointed them,” read a posted statement on the company’s website. “We have taken this feedback to heart.” the company said that in the future “we will ensure our activities and giving tie directly to our In business,” and pledged to maintain a respectful environment, and focus on land and water conservation.
But positioning itself to appeal to more conservative customers has brought quick criticism in a nation of consumers that increasingly identify themselves as either left or right with little in between. John Boyd Jr., president and founder of the National Black Farmers Association, called for Tractor Supply President and CEO Hal Lawton to resign over the change. Boyd told Fortune Magazine he viewed the change in corporate priority “rolling back the clock with race relations – because the country is so divided on race, especially in Rural America.”
However according to the 2020 census, 76% of rural Americans were White, down from 79.8% in 2010. The percentage of rural Americans identifying as a race other than White and non-Hispanic increased from 21% to 25% between 2010 and 2020, according to the Carsey School of Public Policy.
The company’s $2,233 stores in 49 states reported $14.6 billion in sales in 2023. It plans to release its second quarter sales results later this month.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
