• by Tanya Gazdik , July 17, 2024

The image is from John Deere's career page on its website.

John Deere is the latest brand to buckle under social media pressure and announce it is scaling back a series of DEI initiatives.

In a statement released on Tuesday, farm machinery giant Deere & Co. said it would eliminate or change multiple internal policies and initiatives, adding that “our customers’ trust and confidence in us are of the utmost importance to everyone at John Deere.”

“We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events,” the statement read.

“John Deere also announced that it would be ‘auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages,’ and would be ‘reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy,’” according to USA Today. 

John Deere joins the Tractor Supply Company, which made a similar announcement a few weeks ago which resulted in a demand for CEO Hal Lawton’s resignation by a Black farmers group, according to MediaPost's Marketing Daily.  

“Deere’s changes reflect the increasing pressure faced by companies to scale back or do away with DEI initiatives from both external critics and U.S. courts as a wave of legal action challenges policies at scores of companies, including giants such as Starbucks, Meta and Pfizer,” according to The Washington Post.

“It’s also another high-profile instance of corporate stances on social issues creating tension with customers. Deere and Tractor Supply’s changes come barely a year after a boycott of Bud Light over its partnership with transgender influencer and actress Dylan Mulvaney. Target also dealt with a boycott and in-store confrontations over Pride Month merchandise last year, prompting the company to pull back its collection  from storefronts and remove some merchandise altogether."

The statement from Deere & Co. “came about a week after filmmaker Robby Starbuck released a video report on a number of woke policies at John Deere, saying he found the company was ‘funding a pride event for kids as young as 3,’ asking employees to ‘list their ‘preferred pronouns’ on all communications,’ promoting a ‘United for Equity’ program among accounting and finance teams and forming ‘LGBTQ & race-based identity groups at corporate,’” according to Fox Business. 

While the “anti-woke” movement has caused some company leaders to buckle, not all are backtracking on their commitments to DEI, a new survey shows.

“The vast majority – 96% – of corporate social impact professionals in 125 major companies say DEI commitments have either increased (13%) or stayed the same (83%), according to a new survey [from] the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals and YourCause from Blackbaud,”  according to USA Today. 

Deere didn’t disavow DEI entirely. The statement says it will “continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization” because doing so helps meet customer needs. The company’s website still touts “our inclusive culture,” according to The Washington Post.  

It also touts a program called LEAP which is "dedicated to ensuring the long-term sustainability of less than 5 million acres of land currently owned or farmed by Black farmers."