John Deere cuts support for social and cultural awareness initiatives

The agricultural giant released a statement on Tuesday apparently withdrawing its support for initiatives related to DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion. The company said it was doing so in response to feedback from customers and employees. Filling diversity quotas and identifying pronouns have never been or will ever be company policy, the statement read.

John Deere will no longer support parades or other events focused on what it characterized as social or cultural awareness, a likely reference to gay pride parades. Instead, business resources will be focused exclusively on professional development, recruitment, and retention, the company said. Company training materials will also be audited to ensure they include no social messaging, the statement added. John Deere’s announcement came weeks after farming competitor Tractor Supply made a similar announcement.

Does John Deere have a history of DEI and activism? Embedding DEI principles into all aspects of how the company runs was listed as a high priority in a 2022 report. The same report introduced a new set of work expectations that the company insisted would embed DEI into every aspect of its business. DEI is the only global performance metric by which all salary employees are evaluated, the report added.

What’s the public’s reaction? Many online users voiced support for the move, urging the company to remove DEI departments and their employees entirely. But others seemed ambivalent about the policy change. This means nothing since Deere is laying off Americans and moving jobs to Mexico, one user wrote. Giving farmers the right to repair their own equipment would be nice, wrote another.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s report on a SCOTUS ruling barring colleges from considering an applicant’s race during the admission process.