Four Cache Valley dairymen returned from a relief mission to Armenia Monday with plans to bring Armenian dairy scientists to Utah.
Dairy Farmers Leon Savage, Gordon Zilles, Ted King and Kay Carter flew to Yerevan, the Armenian capital, where they distributed 155,000 pounds of milk that had been shipped from Utah by the Air Force the week before.The milk was delivered, mostly at a children's hospital, to fill an immediate need for fresh milk. Authorities involved in the humanitarian aid proj-ect said milk had not been available in Yerevan for at least 45 days before the arrival of the Utah commodities, which were packaged in containers that need no refrigeration.
But the farmers recognized the relief effort had very short-term benefits, both Zilles and King said Tuesday. While in Yerevan, the farmers visited a state-run dairy and discovered that cows there were producing only about one-third as much milk as American cows. Much of the deficiency was blamed on insufficient feed for the animals - dairy cows were eating mostly weeds.
To help the Armenians boost their own productions, the Utah and Idaho farmers made initial arrangements to bring Armenian dairy scientists to Utah where they could learn techniques to boost productions at their own dairies.
The American milk that was shipped had been processed by Gossner Foods in Logan using ultra-high temperatures that allow the milk to be stored without refrigeration for up to nine months.