Tractor Supply Company

What does Tractor Supply own?
Tractor Supply Company owns and operates the Tractor Supply farm and ranch retail chain, the Petsense by Tractor Supply pet specialty chain, and the Allivet online pet pharmacy. It also owns a portfolio of exclusive brands including 4health, Producer's Pride, C.E. Schmidt, CountyLine, Red Shed, and JobSmart.

Is Tractor Supply publicly traded?
Yes. Tractor Supply Company trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol TSCO and is a component of the S&P 500 index. It has been public since February 1994.

Who founded Tractor Supply?
Charles E. Schmidt founded the company in 1938 in Minot, North Dakota, as a mail-order tractor parts business. The first retail store opened in Minot the following year. Schmidt sold the business in 1959, and the company passed through several owners before going public in 1994.

How many stores does Tractor Supply have?
As of December 27, 2025, the company operated 2,602 stores in 49 states: 2,395 Tractor Supply stores and 207 Petsense by Tractor Supply stores. It continues to open roughly 70 to 90 new Tractor Supply stores per year.

Who is the CEO of Tractor Supply?
Hal Lawton (Harry E. Lawton III) has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2020. Before joining Tractor Supply, Lawton was president of Macy's and held senior roles at eBay and Home Depot.

Does Tractor Supply sell tractor parts?
Only incidentally. The company began in 1938 as a tractor parts mail-order business, and agriculture products remain a category, but the modern assortment centers on livestock feed, pet supplies, workwear, tools, and outdoor lifestyle products for recreational farmers and rural homeowners.

Charles E. Schmidt founded Tractor Supply Company in 1938 in Minot, North Dakota, as a mail-order business selling tractor parts and engine components to farmers. Schmidt published catalogs and shipped parts directly to customers, at a time when the mail-order model dominated rural commerce. The first retail store opened in Minot in 1939.

Through the 1940s and 1950s the company expanded its store count across the Midwest and added locations in Canada. Schmidt sold the business in 1959 to National Industries, and the chain changed hands several times over the following decades. The product mix shifted away from tractor parts toward general farm supplies, hardware, and livestock feed as American farming consolidated.

The company went through a leveraged buyout in the early 1980s and by the mid-1980s was in financial trouble. A turnaround under new management refocused the format on the "hobby farmer" and rural homeowner rather than the commercial farmer, a positioning decision that defined the modern chain. The headquarters relocated from Chicago to Nashville, Tennessee, in the 1980s, and later to Brentwood, a Nashville suburb.

Tractor Supply went public on NASDAQ in February 1994 under the ticker TSCO, with approximately 100 stores at the time. Public capital funded steady new-store growth through the late 1990s and 2000s. The company passed 1,000 stores in 2005, 1,500 stores in 2011, and 2,000 stores in 2020.

In September 2016, the company acquired Petsense, a small-box pet specialty retailer, for approximately $116 million. The chain was rebranded Petsense by Tractor Supply and has grown from roughly 140 stores at acquisition to more than 200 locations.

On October 12, 2022, Tractor Supply completed its acquisition of Orscheln Farm and Home, a 166-store farm supply chain based in Moberly, Missouri, for approximately $393.4 million. Under an FTC consent agreement, the company immediately divested 85 stores to Bomgaars Supply and Buchheit Enterprises and retained 81 stores, for a net purchase price of approximately $238 million. All retained stores were converted to the Tractor Supply banner over the following 15 months.

In December 2024, Tractor Supply completed the acquisition of Allivet, an online pet and animal pharmacy founded in 1992 and licensed in all 50 states. The deal expanded the company's total addressable market by an estimated $15 billion and created a pharmacy channel for its roughly 75% of Neighbor's Club members who own pets.

Hal Lawton has served as President and CEO since January 2020. Under Lawton, the company launched its "Life Out Here 2030" strategy, accelerated store growth, expanded the Neighbor's Club loyalty program past 38 million members, and invested in digital, delivery, and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Tractor Supply publishes an annual stewardship report covering environmental, social, and governance topics. The company has invested in energy-efficient store design, recycling programs, and renewable energy procurement at its distribution facilities, and it supports 4-H and FFA youth agriculture programs through the Tractor Supply Company Foundation.

In June and July 2024, the company publicly rolled back several corporate responsibility commitments. It eliminated dedicated diversity, equity, and inclusion roles, withdrew from the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, and retired carbon emission reduction goals, citing alignment with its customer base. The move followed an online pressure campaign and drew criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups while earning support from opponents of corporate DEI programs.

The company is not a Certified B Corporation and holds no major independent sustainability certifications. Most sourcing commitments in its stewardship reporting are self-reported rather than third-party verified.

DEI and climate goal rollback (2024): In June and July 2024, Tractor Supply announced it would cut DEI roles, end sponsorships of pride events, stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, and abandon its carbon emission goals. The decision followed weeks of criticism from conservative commentator Robby Starbuck and produced backlash from the Human Rights Campaign and some customers, alongside approval from anti-DEI activists. The company framed the move as listening to its customers.

FTC conditions on the Orscheln acquisition (2022): To win Federal Trade Commission clearance for its $393.4 million acquisition of Orscheln Farm and Home, Tractor Supply agreed to divest 85 of the acquired stores to Bomgaars Supply and Buchheit Enterprises, a remedy designed to preserve competition in local farm supply markets. The company completed the divestitures at closing in October 2022.

Diesel exhaust fluid settlement (2024): In 2024, the company agreed to a settlement resolving claims related to its private-label diesel exhaust fluid products sold under the Traveller brand, providing compensation to eligible purchasers. The matter concerned product labeling and did not involve a safety recall.