The National Black Farmers Association is calling on Hal Outlaw to step down as president of Tractor Supply Company after the rural lifestyle retailer said it was stepping away from its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts and carbon emissions goals.

On June 27 Tractor Supply Company, which operates 2,250 stores in 49 states, said it was “eliminating its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion roles and retiring its current DEI goals to focus on rural America priorities.”

John Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association and a corn, soybean and cattle producer from Virginia, issued a press release demanding that Outlaw resign as president of the company, citing its decision to work with other organizations typically not associated with DEI programs.

Since then, the National Black Farmers leader has called for John Deere CEO John C. May to resign and for a boycott of Deere after the manufacturer announced it would no longer support “social or cultural awareness” events in response to customer feedback.

First in line

“The people who are first in line to be impacted by this are Black farmers,” said Boyd. “I was really caught off guard by their decision to do this because I had been in talks with Tractor Supply for some time. Then they said they chose not to work with us and to work with 10 other organizations.

Related:Tractor Supply cuts DEI, climate goals

“Tractor Supply has shown with its broken promises that it has little respect for black farmers,” said Boyd, who is a Tractor Supply shareholder. “As president of the NBFA, I am appalled by this decision, which is reflective of the ongoing racial tension and division in America. This affects our 130,000 members, many of whom regularly shop at Tractor Supply.”

Efforts to reach Brentwood, Tenn.-headquartered Tractor Supply Company for a response to the NBFA press release have been unsuccessful. But Boyd released a letter from Marti-Skold-Jordan, manager of the Tractor Supply Company Foundation, in which she denied the company was “going backwards,” on its social justice initiatives, as Boyd had claimed.

“We are as dedicated as ever to being to being a respectful and welcoming environment to our customers, team members, communities and vendors” she said. “Our company values have not changed.”

Other brands

As with other major brands such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, Tractor Supply has been the subject of a campaign by social media influencers claiming on platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter) that the company had a “woke agenda.”

One of those influencers had been calling for a boycott of the company’s stores and urging readers to contact the company’s leaders. During the three weeks leading up to Tractor Supply’s June 27 announcement, its stock price fell 5%.

Related:Texas producers sue USDA claiming discrimination

Many rural residents buy materials like fencing, animal feed and veterinary supplies from Tractor Supply because “big box” stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s and other competitors may be an hour or more away.

Boyd said he had spent $10,639 so far this year at Tractor Supply, in part, because its nearest competitor is more than 35 minutes away from his operation.

“Tractor Supply is a perfect match for the NFBA because they’re in our footprint, and our members are shopping in these stores,” said Boyd. “The alternative supplier, for me, would be in Petersburg, and that’s 35 to 40 minutes the other way.”

Boyd noted that Tractor Supply celebrated its recognition for pursuing workplace diversity last year. “In its 2023 annual report, the company stated its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and announced new initiatives aimed at achieving this goal. However, the recent decision has sparked outrage and disappointment among Black farmers and their supporters.”

“Diversity and inclusion play a key role in moving our business,” the TSC’s annual report said. “Our workforce is approximately 51% male and 49% female, and racial and ethnic minorities comprise about 18% of our workforce.”

$1 million donation

In a June 26 press release, Tractor Supply said it was announcing its Foundation will donate $1 million to charity organizations “committed to supporting our nation’s military service members, veterans and first responders. The donation coincides with the launch of Hometown Heroes, a special program with wide-ranging benefits and recognition for the heroes who bravely serve our country and communities.”

Those organizations include: 9/11 day; the Bob Woodruff Foundation; the Farmer Veteran Coalition; Folds of Honor; the Gary Sinize Foundation; K9s for Warriors; the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund; the National Police Dog Foundation; the National Volunteer Firefighters Council; and the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.

In his talks with Tractor Supply, Boyd said he went through “all the formalities, including the Four Pillars (of team members, welcoming environments, customers and communities) that they described to us. We fit those things picture perfect. We met every criteria, and they chose to work with these other groups.”

Weighing in

Other organizations have been weighing in.

“I found one of my first off-farm jobs at TSC in high school, and the team there was incredibly supportive,” said Ryan Goodman, the founder of Pride in Agriculture. “They helped me get started and learn how to care for customers within the resources we had to work with. That experience makes it even more concerning to see TSC pulling back from supporting marginalized groups.”

Boyd noted that Deere’s decision on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion issues comes one month after it agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and interest to 277 Black and Hispanic job applicants after the U.S. Department of Labor said it found systemic hiring discrimination at the company.

“Awards Deere won for its inclusiveness and the names of employee resource groups devoted to women, veterans and people with disabilities no longer appears on the company websites,” Boyd said. “We will continue to see more companies downplay diversity goals and scale back DEI programs created to encourage the advancement of marginalized groups.”

Citing Deere’s goal of launching an autonomous tractor by 2030, Boyd said “It is the farmer and not the machine that will take care of the crop and ensure it grows. I challenge John Deere to service all of America’s farmers, including Black farmers.”