Tractor Supply dog food sales fell 5% in past year
Cat food and dog treats posted modest gains, while smaller farm and ranch retailers increased overall pet sales.
by Tim Wall
Article Summary
Tractor Supply’s dog food sales declined 5% year-over-year during the 12 months ending August 2026, contributing to a 3% overall decrease in pet sales, despite modest growth in cat food and dog treats. The decline reflects broader pressure on the retailer’s dominant pet category, though smaller competitors like Murdoch’s and Blain’s Farm & Fleet reported growth.
- Dog food sales at Tractor Supply fell 5% year-over-year, driving a 3% decline in total pet sales
- Dog supplies dropped 7% while cat food and dog treats each grew 1%
- Tractor Supply controls 76% of pet sales across tracked farm retailers, giving its performance outsized market impact
- Smaller competitors gained ground: Murdoch’s reported 22.1% pet sales growth and Blain’s Farm & Fleet grew 9.2%
- Wild bird food emerged as a bright spot, with Tractor Supply’s 40-pound Royal Wing Black Oil Sunflower product generating $80-90 million in gross merchandise value
Dog food sales at Tractor Supply declined 5% year over year during the 12 months ending August 2026, contributing to a 3% decrease in the retailer’s total pet sales, according to a September report from YipitData. Cat food and dog treats each grew 1%, but those gains were insufficient to offset declines in dog food and supplies.
The report, “Inside the Farm & Ranch Pet Market: What’s Driving Category Growth and Where Pressure Is Building,” examines U.S. online and physical-store sales at Tractor Supply, Rural King, Blain’s Farm & Fleet, Atwoods and Murdoch’s. Its market share figures apply to that tracked retailer group.
Tractor Supply accounted for 76% of pet sales across the tracked retailers, according to the report, compared with 14% for Rural King. That concentration gives Tractor Supply’s performance considerable weight within the group, even as some smaller competitors reported growth.
Blain’s Farm & Fleet and Murdoch’s together represented 6% of tracked pet sales. They were the only retailers in the group to record year-over-year pet sales growth, at 9.2% and 22.1%, respectively. Rural King’s pet sales declined, although the report did not specify the percentage decrease.
Dog products accounted for 74% of Tractor Supply’s pet sales, with sales across the dog category falling 4% year over year. Dog supplies declined 7%, alongside the 5% decrease in dog food.
Bird-category sales increased 2%, while overall cat-category sales were nearly flat. Within those categories, wild bird food and treats grew 3%, and cat food increased 1%. The distinction between total category and food sales matters: modest growth in cat food did not translate into comparable growth across cat products overall.
Wild bird food also generated substantial sales for individual products. Tractor Supply’s 40-pound Royal Wing Black Oil Sunflower Wild Bird Food ranked first among the retailer’s wild bird food and treat products, with a reported gross merchandise value of US$80 million to US$90 million over the 12 months ending August 2026.
At Rural King, its own-branded 40-pound wild bird seed bag ranked first, with gross merchandise value of US$35 million to US$45 million. Blain’s Farm & Fleet’s two leading wild bird products also carried the retailer’s name, illustrating the presence of private label among the segment’s top sellers.
The findings show differing sales trends by retailer and product category within the tracked group. Growth at smaller retailers and modest gains in cat food, dog treats and wild bird food at Tractor Supply occurred alongside weakness in its much larger dog business.
YipitData lists electronic receipts, in-store receipts, credit and debit card data, and web-scraped data as its sources. The report does not separate changes in sales into pricing and unit-volume effects, so the declines do not establish whether shoppers bought less food, paid less or shifted their purchases elsewhere.
Fonte: petfoodindustry.com
