Two years ago, the city of Springfield, Mo., threatened Bud and Marianna Thomson's dairy farm with eminent domain. Support from different people helped them keep their farm.

For five generations, Thomsons have bred reputation Holsteins on the family farm just east of Springfield, Mo. During their own tenure, Robert "Bud" and Marianna Thomson have added considerably to the genetic quality of their cows. In her peak lactation in 1993, Robthom "Suzet" produced 59,300 pounds of milk. Even though cut short by her untimely death a few years later, Suzet racked up a lifetime production of more than 283,000 pounds.

"She left some of the milkingest daughters we've had in the herd," said Marianna Thomson.

Semen from the Robthom-bred bull, "Integrity," has been used in every country where cows are milked.

"My grandfather moved to Greene County in 1903," recalled Bud Thomson. "He lived, worked and died on this place. So did my father, and I have always intended to do the same."

About two years ago, the Thomsons grew uneasy when the Springfield city government began casting covetous eyes on the Thomson's 300-plus acres as a likely site for a new industrial park.

"A realtor first approached us with an offer to buy our place," said Thomson. "He offered us $7,000 per acre, but we weren't interested in selling and told him so."

During the next few months, the Springfield City Council came by with new offers, upping the ante a little each time. The Thomson farm is not inside the Springfield city limits but is in the Springfield R-12 school district. City leaders reportedly wanted the land for an industrial park so tax revenue would accrue to the schools. However, even if the proposed industrial park were fully occupied, the tenant businesses would generate something less than $170,000 per year in tax revenue--hardly a drop in the bucket in the $65 million or so annual R-12 school budget.

"We declined their offers," said Thomson. "For one thing, where would we go with our cows? You don't just milk cows this morning, then look for a ready-made place to milk them this afternoon."

But the Springfield government was not willing to take "no" for an answer. The city council initiated condemnation proceedings to take the Thomson farm under eminent domain powers."They didn't even let us know," said Marianna. "We first heard about the condemnation on the news."

The David-and-Goliath aspect of the struggle attracted the attention not only of local news media but the national press as well. The Associated Press picked up the story. Paul Harvey reported the Thomsons' plight on his syndicated radio program. As the word got out on what the city council was doing, irate callers clogged the city hall switchboard. Hundreds of letters, faxes and e-mails poured in with almost unanimous opposition to the city of Springfield.

"Some Vietnam veterans contacted us," said Bud Thomson. "They said they would come and chain themselves to our porch if the city tried to evict us."

The Thomsons decided to fight the proposed condemnation."But we didn't have time to even hire a lawyer," said Thomson. Within days after the city of Springfield announced its intention to condemn the Thomson property, public outrage had reached a fever pitch. The city council backed down and went looking elsewhere for an industrial park site.

"The number of people who supported us surprised us," said Thomson. "It's unbelievable that this many people would take our side; we didn't know most of them."