Tractor Supply, My Daughters, and DEI

When the serfs revolt

At 3 pm, June 27, 2024, Tractor Supply Company announced concessions to a three-week old boycott, in which its market cap dropped more than $2 billion, and eliminated its DEI program, sponsorship of non-business events like Pride, reporting of data to the LGBTQ advocacy group Human Rights Campaign, and carbon emissions reduction goals, and instead would focus on issues of importance to rural communities, like ag education and animal welfare. Coincidentally, at exactly the same time, my twin daughters were being offered jobs there. They're black. Either the memo to start being racist hadn't filtered down to the local level yet or the Left’s worst fears weren’t being realized.

This is a victory for rural customers who have been held hostage to the political priorities of large corporations who don't share their values. These customers can't just go somewhere else. In my case, when I have hay down, rain is coming, and something breaks on the tractor, I can't go 50 miles to the next closest farm supply. Businesses are thin on the ground in rural areas. Rural people have been forced to support things they don't believe in, like serfs funding the feudal lord's castle.

Like a lot of consumers, Tractor Supply customers haven’t been happy about what they’ve been forced to pay for. But, on June 6, former Hollywood film director Robby Starbuck posted on Twitter an expose of TSC’s activities and suggested customers shop elsewhere.

Tractor Supply Company calls itself the “largest rural lifestyle retailer in the U.S.,” ranking 291st on the Fortune 500. They and Walmart might be the only big box stores in a small town. They claim to provide for “a niche market of farmers, horse owners, ranchers, part-time and hobby farmers, and suburban and rural homeowners, as well as contractors and tradesmen.” They might be the only local farm supply, and with their fairly comprehensive offerings, meet a lot of needs. This is a particularly valuable alternative for heavy items like gates or fencing, where shipping costs could be prohibitive for online orders. 

TSC Corporate has a political agenda which doesn’t match that of its customers. Starbuck documents a  $100,000 donation to Conexion Americas, working, among other things, to stop the deportation of illegal immigrants. Starbuck shows they have funded Pride events and “family friendly” drag shows, with the photo documentation to prove it. 

TSC’s benefits include transgender “medically necessary” health care, a term which means surgical transition, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Internal required employee trainings on LGBTQ+ topics, intersectionality, and unconscious bias earn it a 100 % on the Corporate Equality Index, an ESG metric. DEI 5-year goals include increasing the number of people of color working as managers by 50 per cent, and the number of “diverse” suppliers by 35 per cent.