The Tractor Supply controversy, explained

U.S. farming equipment chain, Tractor Supply Company, has found itself in the middle of a storm after recent policy changes drew scorn from the customer base. But what is this whole controversy really about?

The Tractor Supply Company

Founded in 1938, the Tractor Supply Company, or TSC, supplies a range of agricultural, garden, and home improvement materials, among other things, across almost every state in the country, similar to Home Depot or Lowes. The company has stood out as a supporter of LGBTQ+ community, sponsoring Pride festivals and frequently scoring perfect marks from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). On top of that, the company donated to tons of other great causes, and has taken steps to reduce its environmental impact.

Tractor Supply and its policies

In 2021 the company’s CEO, Hal Lawton, wrote an opinion piece for The Tennessean discussing Tractor Supply’s policies. The future plans covered a range of areas including a reduction in the use of energy and water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI), particularly in management roles and on their board. These were just a few of Lawton’s targets three years ago, but it’s clear to see that Tractor Supply was pretty progressive in terms of its policies.

The backlash

Unfortunately, not everybody agreed with Lawton’s approach — it seems the DEI policies in particular led to some dissent amongst customers. It all started in early June, after director Robby Starbuck made a post to X “exposing” Tractor Supply Company and its “woke” agenda. Starbuck frequently posts about political issues, and is often very critical of the liberal agenda he claims is destroying America.

His post is heavily critical of the DEI hiring practices, as well as climate change activism — Starbuck claims that Tractor Supply’s business decisions are not reflective of its customer base, and he calls for a boycott until the policies are reversed. While the company has been a strong supporter of progressive causes for a number of years, Starbuck’s post drew a lot of negative attention, which ultimately led to backlash.

Not only did Tractor Supply see a lot of anger directed its way from those who agreed with Starbuck, but the response also had an effect on the company’s shares. the Financial Times reports that the boycott actually knocked 5% off of TSC’s share prices.

This isn’t even the first time conservatives have successfully pressured a large company through boycotting. Last year Budweiser partnered with trans influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, which led to alt-right figures like Kid Rock throwing temper tantrums and firing their guns on X.

Tractor Supply responds

After a few weeks of prolonged boycotting, the company finally addressed the controversy, although the response seems to have only made everything worse. On June 27, Tractor Supply released a statement saying it had “taken customer’s feedback to heart.” Essentially what it told people was that it would no longer sponsor non-business activities, and would also be reversing many of its policies due to the severe response from the more conservative-leaning customer base. 

The statement specified that TSC would “No longer submit data to the Human Rights Campaign” and “eliminate DEI roles and retire our current DEI goals” as well as “withdraw our carbon emission goals.” Instead, the plan going forward would be to focus on “rural America priorities including ag education, animal welfare, veteran causes and being a good neighbor.” The statement promises to still ensure a respectful environment, and also focus on water conservation, but aside from that, almost every commitment the company made has now been abandoned. Wow. Way to stick to your guns.

More controversy

In an attempt to win back one portion of the customer base, Tractor Supply has only gone and alienated another portion in the process. The complete 180 has led to an outcry from farmers and customers from all over the country. According to an article from AP News, the National Black Farmers Association has called for Hal Lawton’s resignation, and it’s easy to see why. In one brief statement, Tractor Supply has basically shown that it never really cared about the issues it was championing for the last few years.

Tractor Supply is now receiving backlash from the very customers that it had previously been supporting after essentially abandoning them. There are now just as many, if not more than before who have vowed not to buy from the company again. On top of that, you have to wonder if this move even brought back the conservative customer base. Who would trust a company that lacks any kind of integrity or moral backbone, after all?