After Tractor Supply victory, a normalcy advocate is taking John Deere to task over its woke capture

The Tennessee-based retail chain Tractor Supply Co., established in 1938, fell captive to DEI and other systems ostensibly crafted to maximize corporate compliance with leftist ideology.

As Carmel Richardson recently noted in Compact magazine, the company not only required its employees to undergo compulsory "LGBTQIA+ training" but funded sex-change mutilations through its health plan and sponsored so-called "family-friendly" transvestite performances.

Having undoubtedly gleaned insights into corporations' low tolerance for consumer backlash from the Bud Light saga, conservative filmmaker Robby Starbuck and others campaigned to test Tractor Supply's commitment to race-obsessive policies, gender ideology, and an altogether alienating radical worldview.

Realizing that such commitments were unpopular with its customer base, Tractor Supply quickly abandoned its woke posturing, announcing on June 27 that it had taken "this feedback to heart."

The company revealed that it would no longer submit data to the mammoth LGBT activist group known as the Human Rights Campaign; would eliminate "DEI roles and retire [its] current DEI goals"; withdraw its carbon emission goals; and refocus its team member engagement groups on mentoring, networking, and supporting the business.

While this singular battle against woke was won in short order, the broader war rages on.

Starbuck shared a video to X on Tuesday, indicating that the next battle would be aimed at liberating John Deere. Deere & Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange as DE — a stock that has taken a tumble in recent months.

The conservative filmmaker noted that John Deere "has been one of the most beloved brands by conservative farmers but recently on CEO John May's watch, they've gone woke."

Starbuck cited the company's sponsorship of pride events for children, its expectation that employees state their "preferred pronouns" -- "such as he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs" -- in all communications, and its commitment to DEI policies as three of several signs of the company's ideological capture.

According to the company's code of business conduct, employees are expected to support diversity, equity, and inclusion and complete "required diversity awareness training to better understand [their] responsibilities in this area."

'John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are.'

Last year, Human Rights Campaign gave John Deere a score of 95 out of possible 100. According to the LGBT lobby group, Deere & Co.

• provides "four LGBTQ+ internal training elements (including an intersectionality training)";
• provides at "least one LGBTQ+ inclusive data collection effort";
• provides "Gender Transition Guidelines and ata least one additional transgender inclusive policy or practice for its employees";
• has "either an LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group or an LGBTQ+ Inclusive Diversity Council";
• has at least five distinct "LGBTQ+ efforts of Outreach or Engagement to Broader LGBTQ+ Community";
• follows "an LGBTQ+ Supplier Non-Discrimination policy ... and an LGBTQ+ inclusive philanthropic giving guideline"; and
• has an employment non-discrimination policy that "includes sexual orientation and gender identity for all operations."

Besides the company's apparent efforts to pander to LGBT activists, Starbuck took issue with John Deere's apparent de-prioritization of American workers, noting that "Deere also just announced layoffs in the US and that they plan to shift large segments of production away from the US to Mexico."

The company is planning to fire roughly 600 employees across three American factories amidst a shift of production to a facility in Ramos, Mexico, reported CNN.

As of Aug. 30, around 310 American employees will lose their jobs at two Iowa-based John Deere plants in Dubuque and Davenport. Another 280 workers will be laid off from a factory in East Moline, Illinois.

Extra to canning American workers and chasing after LGBT activists' approval, the company appears immune to the pleading of groups like the National Legal and Policy Center, which has criticized in recent months John Deere's pursuit of so-called "green" policies, which appear to be at odds with the very industries it serves.

"To put it mildly," wrote Starbuck, "John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are. Having a farm myself, I'm disgusted that a once great American brand is now taking this turn to seemingly embrace leftist policies that are diametrically opposed to the values of most farmers."

"What's unknown is whether CEO John May is knowingly forcing these policies or if it's gotten out of control and he's out of the loop on how bad it is," continued Starbuck. "His response to this story will be very revealing as to his culpability in the implementation of woke policies."

In his video, Starbuck provided potential customers who might want to speak out with the company's email and corporate service number, noting that his intent is not destruction but rather to "inform consumers about the values major companies are adopting so they can make choices about what they're willing to support."

"When we use our voices and wallets to vote our values, we can change the world and we can restore great American companies to a culture of sanity, meritocracy and culture war neutrality OR we can inspire competitors to step up to the plate to fight for our business," added Starbuck.

As with his previous video criticizing Tractor Supply, Starbuck's latest critique appears to have gone viral, netting well over 4 million views just on X.

Blaze News has reached out to John Deere for comment and will update this article in the event of a reply.

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