Interesting demographic trends from the Fortune 500 issue profile of Tractor Supply Co.
Professional farmers originally made up 90% of Tractor Supply’s clientele; today that figure is 10%. Far fewer Americans farm today as agriculture has consolidated and industrialized. But by the 1990s. the demographics of rural America had taken an interesting turn. During that decade, the number of rural route addresses grew 25%, as more people bought primary and weekend homes in the country rather than, say, at the beach. Since 2011, according to US. Department of Agriculture data, the population in rural areas at the edge of larger “metros” has slowly hut steadily grown. And some of those hack-to-the-landers are trying their hand at small-scale farming—raising eggs or goats or heirloom tomatoes for fun and, occasionally for extra income.
Today, the core Tractor Supply customer typically has one to live acres of land, some small livestock like chickens, hogs. or sheep (in Texas, there could he a couple head of cattle), and perhaps a horse or two. “They are not big industrial farmers— they live out here because it’s their passion,” says Tractor Supply’s senior vice president of marketing. Christi Korzekwa. The fast- growing new cohort that Tractor Supply is cultivating. she says, are ‘beginning to learn how to garden. They have this passion for poultry.” Call them the “country suburban” customers.
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