Lignell Family
The Lignell farm was started by Elizabeth Lignell’s great-grandfather in 1907. There were mostly beef cows in the operation over the years. Some dairy cows were on the farm early, but it was mostly a beef operation. Elizabeth’s grandfather had Angus cattle, and her father ran a commercial cow-calf herd. Elizabeth moved back to purebred Angus cattle.
The family raises purebred Angus cattle and sells breeding stock by private treaty. They’ve had bulls in the St. Croix Valley bull test in Wisconsin. The Lignells also have a small flock of 4-H sheep. Elizabeth and her husband, Bob, have three boys, Wyatt, Aden and Isaac, who have shown cattle and sheep in 4-H at the county, regional and state levels with good success.
Elizabeth runs the operation and works full-time at the Blandin Paper Company in Grand Rapids. Bob also has a full-time job off the farm. Elizabeth says Bob fixes all the things she breaks. Isaac helps on the farm as a champion hay raker, bale hauler and chore partner.
The Lignells have always been involved in Itasca County 4-H. Elizabeth’s dad was a tireless volunteer for 4-H beef and sheep projects. Elizabeth was an adult 4-H leader for 12 years and serves as the current livestock project bowl coach. She volunteers for all the animal agriculture activities at the county fair that she can. The Lignells show cattle and sheep at the Itasca and St. Louis County fairs and enjoy being animal agriculture advocates.