Deere alters cultural awareness and diversity efforts

Equipment manufacturer John Deere said it will no longer sponsor “social or cultural awareness” events, that it will audit all training materials “to ensure the absence of socially-motivated messages,” and that “the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy.” 

The Associated Press (AP) reports that the move is driven, in part, by criticism from conservative political commentator and filmmaker Robby Starbuck who has recently been critical of companies like Deere, Tractor Supply and others.

AP reports that Starbuck called Deere’s announcement “another huge win in our war on wokeness,” but said that it still wasn’t enough, calling on the company to completely eliminate its DEI policies and no longer participate in Corporate Equality Index scoring from the Human Rights Campaign, the largest advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.

Starbuck and other conservative activists recently applauded Tractor Supply for its pledge to eliminate all of its DEI roles while retiring current DEI goals and stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign. Eric Bloem, vice president of programs and corporate advocacy at the Human Rights Campaign, called the announcement “disappointing” and “a direct result of a coordinated attack by far-right extremists on American business.”

National Black Farmers Association President John Boyd, Jr., called for the resignation of Deere & Co CEO John C. May and a boycott of the company on Wednesday. The AP reports that Boyd and the organization said Deere “continues to move in the wrong direction” in regards to DEI and has “failed to show its support” for Black farmers since NBFA’s founding. It also noted Tuesday’s announcement arrives one month after the company agreed to pay $1.1 million in back wages and interest to 277 Black and Hispanic job applicants after the Labor Department alleged hiring discrimination.

Deere did state that it would still continue to “track and advance” the diversity of the company, without providing further details.

Deere statement

John Deere was founded in America’s heartland nearly 200 years ago by an entrepreneur deeply committed to delivering innovative products to his customers. We’re proud of this leqacy and it continues to drive us today. We deeply value our more than 80,000 global employees who work every day to deliver superior products to our customers. It takes the best people and the best teams to solve our customers’ biggest challenges. To best serve our customers and employees, Deere is always listening to feedback and looking for opportunities to improve. That’s why we consistently prioritize internal policies that more closely align our business strategy to meet the needs of our customers.

For example, last year:

• We revised our corporate guidelines to solely focus on sponsorships supporting the business and brand. Our non-profit sponsorships center on priority areas, such as hunger, economic development, poverty alleviation, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), agriculture education initiatives, and support for our nation’s service members and veterans.

Based on ongoing conversations, we have committed to the following:

• We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events. Business Resource Groups will exclusively be focused on professional development, networking, mentoring, and supporting talent recruitment efforts. 

• Auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages, while being in compliance with federal, state, and local laws. Reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy. 

• We fundamentally believe that a diverse workforce enables us to best meet our customers’ needs and because of that we will continue to track and advance the diversity of our organization. We remain committed to listening to our customers, employees, and other key stakeholders. 

Your trust and confidence in us are of the utmost importance to everyone at John Deere and we fully intend to earn it every day and in every way we can.