DRESDEN (AP) – Two farmers who went on an agricultural trade mission to China say that country offers potentially lucrative business opportunities for Maine.

Marge Kilkelly of Dresden and Nancy Smith of Monmouth were part of a delegation that visited China last month in a trip sponsored by the Eastern Trade Council and the Northeast States Association For Agriculture Stewardship.

During the trip, the pair visited the northern province of Inner Mongolia, where they met with farmers who had recently bought 60 bulls whose offspring weren’t producing as much milk as they should.

By the time the trip ended, Kilkelly and Smith were convinced Maine farmers could team up with Mongolian farmers in a long-term partnership that could increase China’s dairy output while providing business for Maine expertise.

“If it is not us that will provide this, someone else will,” said Smith, who is a state representative. “We are not talking benevolent work. This wouldn’t be for free. Maine producers and experts would be paid for their services.”

Kilkelly, a former state senator, led the delegation, which had farmers from Maine, New York and Pennsylvania.

She said the Chinese dairy farmers weren’t making the connection between proper feed, farm management and genetics. Farmers there were getting about 8,000 pounds of milk per cow a year, while Maine cows average about 25,000 pounds a year each.

Dairy products have never a staple in Asian diets, but cheese, flavored yogurt and other dairy items are becoming increasingly popular with Chinese youth, Smith said.

New Zealand, Australia and Canada dairy industries are all present in China already, she said.

“This is going to happen and we can be a part of it,” she said.

Kilkelly and Smith said they are arranging to have a farmer they met in China come to Maine next summer for a further exchange of information.