Tractor Supply eliminates DEI roles, Pride support, and carbon emissions goals in rural retail.

• Tractor Supply has announced that it will no longer have DEI roles, withdraw its carbon emissions goals, and retract its support for the LGBTQ community.
• Agricultural and livestock supplies, as well as home improvement equipment, are primarily targeted at rural customers by Tractor Supply.
• In the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2023 that invalidated affirmative action in colleges, a growing movement of opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has emerged.

The company announced this week that it is eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion roles; withdrawing carbon emission goals; and walking back support for the LGBTQ community as part of sweeping changes to its environmental, social and governance initiatives.

The retailer announced on Thursday that it will no longer provide data to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, and will also stop sponsoring Pride festivals and voting campaigns. Despite earning a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Best Places to Work Corporate Equality Index, the company has made this decision.

The announcement comes in the final days of Pride Month.

Tractor Supply is retiring 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 to reduce its water usage by 2025. Its DEI targets included boosting the number of employees of color at the manager level and above by 50% by 2026.

The company is making changes to better reflect the values of the communities and customers it serves, as it caters to largely rural communities with 50,000 employees across 2,250 stores in 49 states, according to company data.

"Our nation's greatness is rooted in rural communities, and we have heard from customers that we have fallen short of their expectations. We have taken this feedback to heart and are committed to improving."

Tractor Supply has invested millions of dollars in supporting veteran causes, state fairs, animal shelters, rodeos, and farmers markets, and is the largest supporter of FFA, a nonprofit that promotes agricultural education for middle and high schoolers.

The retailer was previously included on Newsweek's list of America's Greatest Workplaces for Diversity in 2023 and was named to Bloomberg's Gender Equality Index for 2022 and 2023.

The market valuation of the publicly traded company is approximately $29 billion. When CNBC inquired about the changes, Tractor Supply declined to provide additional information beyond the statement.

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2023 to strike down affirmative action in colleges has sparked a growing wave of anti-DEI sentiment, with experts predicting that the ruling could have implications for corporate hiring or recruiting.

Pharmaceutical giant has faced legal challenges over DEI initiatives for LGBTQ customers and employees, including dropping race-based eligibility requirements for a fellowship program designed for college students of Black, Latino and Native American descent, the Associated Press reported in February 2023.