Let me know if you find a white hat in the California meat packing plant abuse case.

Having given the livestock industry its biggest black eye since BSE was identified in the U.S., Hallmark Meat Packing certainly isn’t wearing one.

Neither is the ironically-named Humane Society of the United States which chose to maximize the damage it could inflict on American agriculture by conducting a six-week investigation rather than immediately reporting animal abuse at the Chino, Calif., facility to local authorities.

The big question for livestock producers is, which of these culprits wears the blackest hat?

After all, it’s pretty clear that neither is your friend.

A super-sized portion of the livestock industry has been in denial for years regarding the importance of perceived animal welfare. Despite indisputable evidence that American consumers want to know more about where their food comes from and how it is produced, a large segment of the industry continues its “just eat it and shut up” attitude.

Perhaps the most damaging stance those of us involved with livestock have struck, however, is in writing off animal welfare people as around-the-bend intellectual pygmies. Surely, we think, consumers will recognize them for what they are and go back to those good ol’ days of no-questions-asked shopping.

On both points, we have been way-wrong. The trend of consumers wanting to know more and more about their food will continue—continue and heighten.

As for those looney tune animal welfare people, well, it turns out that they're not crazy at all. Some, as a matter of fact, have proven to be brilliant strategists with incredibly deep pockets, as adept at fundraising as they are at anti-livestock operations.

When it comes to publicity, they beat us like a bass drum, grabbing headline after headline while the livestock industry apologizes, complains or just shuffles its feet.

The alphabet soup of animal welfare organizations has a huge advantage, of course. Influencing the public is what they do—it’s all they do.

And they’re damn good at it.

Livestock producers, on the other hand, just want to produce livestock because that’s what they’re good at. The animal welfare industry—and be clear on the fact that it is an industry—has one heckuva home field advantage.

Livestock folks need to get better at presenting a positive image to the public and, as Ann Landers used to suggest, it’s going to have to seek professional help to accomplish that task. Sitting in the coffee shop sermonizing on how that cow kicked you way harder than you ever kicked her just won't cut it. Neither will the tired old explanation that you take good care of your stock because economics demand it.

Thirty seconds of shock video and—poof—both arguments are dead on arrival.