For those of you who haven't read our regular feature, Letter From Langdon, you don't know what you're missing. Check out the feature below and to the left — or just search for Langdon up above and start reading. You won't want to stop.

For those of you who are familiar with Richard Oswald's magical missives from his farm in the far northwest corner of Missouri but have wondered what the guy sounded like, here's your chance. Richard (above) was on the Marketplace radio show this morning with a commentary. Just click this sentence to go to the show for a listen.

Marketplace is running a series called "Food Fight." It's about the global rise in food prices and the food shortages that are causing havoc around the world. Richard talks about this from the perspective of a farmer who has waited a long time to earn a decent return on his labor and investment. Listen up.

Buffalo from Monte Downare's ranch ran through the thin fence put up by Jeff Hawn, a newcomer to Park County, Colorado, and so Hawn allowed some hunters to kill 32 of the bison. The buffalo were left where they were shot, or where they eventually fell, and the community of Fairplay was thrown into an uproar, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times.

Colorado is an open range state and so the ethic and the law is that property owners are responsible for keep animals off their property — and that you never kill a neighbor's stock. But Hawn came from Texas, buying 365 acres (at best, a "ranchette") next to the Downare's place. The buffalo would cross Hawn's fence and the Downare's would come bring them back. Hawn claimed they did damage to his property, including destroying a satellite dish. And then the strong-willed bison crossed again and the animals were shot.

The incident has spawned lawsuits and a letter to the editor calling the hunters "gang-land style killers." Police are investigating.

Richard Oswald turns consumer health advisor, with a farm fresh, cheap, and labor-intensive cure for eczema.

Higher food prices find winners and losers among rural companies. Meanwhile, President Bush holds out veto threat on farm bill supported by Democrats.

A two and a half year study of "industrial farm animal production" by a special commission has concluded that while "industrial farm animal production has benefits, it brings with it growing concerns for public health, the environment, animal welfare, and impacts on rural communities." The report, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public, finds that the costs of large scale animal production are "human illnesses caused by drug resistant bacterial associated with the rampant use of antibiotics on feedlots and the degradation of land, water and air quality caused by animal waste too intensely concentrated to be neutralized by natural processes," according to the Washington Post.

The commission concluded: "Research consistently shows that the social and economic well-being of rural communities benefits from large numbers of farmers rather than fewer farms that produce increased volumes. In rural communities where fewer, larger farms have replaced smaller, locally owned farms, residents have experienced lower family income, higher poverty rates, lower retail sales, reduced housing quality, and persistent low wages for farm workers."