Stiegelman Wins Best Mustache in the Pork Industry
The first winner of the coveted “Best Mustache in the Pork Industry” is a mustache “fit for bank robbery or a night at the opera...maybe both!” describes judge and Davis Michaelson, news director and co-host of AgriTalk.
Judge and AgDay TV’s Clinton Griffiths, says, “This Wyatt Earp stature stache mixes both business and pleasure. The combination of tough guy and silver-tongued politician fit nicely behind this ornamental facial hair.”
For judge Claire Masker-King, director of sustainability and international communications at the National Pork Board, it’s all about swagger. “If you are going to have facial hair, there needs to be some swagger to you,” she says.
2020 Best Mustache in the Pork Industry: Bryant Steigelman
Bryant Steigelman, military talent acquisition specialist for Smithfield Foods, began growing his mustache after starting his role (clean-shaven) with Smithfield in 2017. Since he began working on his mustache, he says it’s become a great conversation starter during company events, hiring fairs and other activities.
“I believe it was Peter Griffin (the character on Family Guy) that noted, ‘With a great mustache, comes great responsibility.’ I feel as though I must support this notion,” says Steigelman, who lives in Fayetteville, N.C. “The mustache is often the center of attention of memes, jokes and misunderstanding. I think it is time for us in the pork industry to recognize this beautiful piece of facial hair as the glorious art for which it is intended to be. As I venture out to hiring fairs and community events on behalf of Smithfield Foods, my righteous stache receives an abundance of positive acknowledgement and notoriety. I feel as though it is time for me to unveil this treasure to the entire industry.”
According to Steigelman, a good mustache needs must excel in these five areas: initial impression, width, thickness, the proper curl/shape and proper care/hygiene.
He says he truly enjoys bringing military veteran talent into Smithfield Foods and the food manufacturing industry.
“The agriculture and food industry struggle to retain qualified talent and military veterans offer an excellent pool of talent and skills to counter this issue. I joined the company as a trainee in the Smithfield Foods Military Fellowship Program (MFP) and was blessed to see how a vertically integrated food processing company conducts business,” he says. “I feel as though I developed a good understanding of how Smithfield Foods employs the “farm to fork” process to deliver high quality and safe foods to the tables of many pork consumers worldwide. I get to leverage this knowledge every time I fill vacant positions in the company with our nation’s heroes, military veterans.”
Rounding out the top three mustaches in the pork industry are as follows:
2nd place: Rob King
King runs a 6,400-head sow farm in Washington Courthouse, Ohio.
“Coming in a close second for me is this full bodied fu-manchu. It mixes both strength and danger. Given his side-ensemble, it obviously exudes interest. Hanging like a well-worn piece of art, this mustache looks like it could stand solo on a cliff yelling for respect in ways that even Chuck Norris would envy. If a mustache had a soul, this would have its own spot in heaven. The only negative marks come from its unruly, frayed appearance, although its classic 2020,” Griffiths comments.
3rd place: Austin Thompson
Thompson is the herd manager at Platt Showpigs in Roanoke, Ind.
Masker-King says, “Tom Selleck once said that his mustache was so popular it needed its own agent. I’m sure that this stache will have the same fate in the coming days.”
