Solid Roots

7th-Generation Rancher Leigh Ann Wynn Talks About Female Role Models, Her Future as Next PCFB President

- TIM CRAIG

LEIGH ANN WYNN didn’t have to search very far for examples of strong women in agriculture. Wynn, a seventh-generation Florida cattle rancher, grew up around two of the best: her grandmother, Marnel Lightsey, and her mother, Marcia Lightsey. “Mom wasn’t raised in agriculture, but she learned from my grandmother — my father’s mother,” says Wynn. “I remember growing up and watching them be involved in the day-to-day operations.”

They showed her how to manage the cows at the family’s dairy farm in Brandon. When they moved to Central Florida to start in the beef cattle business, the tutorial continued.

“I remember watching her and learning how to maneuver through the cattle pens,” says Wynn. “When I showed steers in the youth fair, she was there helping me learn how to care for the animals, the day-in and day-out tasks I needed to do.”

Wynn also credits her dad and his philosophy on work as shaping her view of women in the agriculture industry.

“He really did not have a problem with my mom taking a leadership role in the business,” she says. “I think he saw her as a partner who could oversee some aspects of the business, which freed him to do other parts.”

Now, as a partner in a cattle ranch, a mother, an entrepreneur, and a growing leader in the Central Florida agricultural industry, Wynn can see how those early-life lessons shaped how she prepares for the future.