‘BLAZED THE TRAIL’
Ex-Berks extension agent first woman in national hall of fame
Mena Hautau, who spent almost 23 years helping Berks farmers, has become the first woman to receive the highest national award for an extension agent: induction into its hall of fame.
The award was announced virtually this week. She will receive a plaque and her photo will be added to an online gallery of winners.
J. Craig Williams, president of the National Association of County Agriculture Agents, said he has had the honor to work with Hautau for many years and said she is a true hall of fame winner and an example of the high quality county agents from the North East Region.
Emelie Swackhamer, a Penn State Extension educator based in Montgomery County, nominated Hautau for the honor on behalf of Pennsylvania Association of County Agriculture Agents. Swackhamer is association president.
“The face of agriculture is changing,” said Swackhamer, noting that the number of women working in agriculture has grown. “Mena blazed the trail for a lot of us.”
In her 35-plus years of service, Hautau blazed the trail for agents who followed in Iowa and Pennsylvania, Swackhamer said.
“When I was a young educator in Pennsylvania in the 1990s, Mena encouraged me to rely on my knowledge and to have confidence when there was much less diversity in our co-workers and clients,” Swackhamer wrote in her nomination letter. “She exemplified the calm effectiveness of competency without making much of the shifting demographics of our profession. She continued to act as an unofficial mentor to many new educators in Pennsylvania and her legacy lives on in their work.”
Hautau, 65, said she was honored just to be nominated for the hall of fame.
“There were probably other agents that could have been nominated ahead me,” Hautau said in a phone interview.
The NACAA Hall of Fame Award was established in 2006 to recognize NACAA members (active or life) for demonstrated commitment, dedication and effective leadership in job performance as an outstanding educator; association involvement at the state and national level; and outstanding humanitarian service. The award is presented annually to one person from each of the four NACAA regions.
Hautau built her reputation by building relationships and adapting to needs of the farming community.
“Mena is universally respected for her breadth and depth of knowledge in the field and has won many awards for her good efforts,” said state Sen. Judy Schwank, who worked at the Berks extension before entering politics and hired Hautau.
Schwank wrote a letter supporting Hautau’s nomination.
“It was not uncommon to see her trudging through a rain-soaked pasture or searching for bugs in soybean fields,” Schwank added. “More so, she mentored other agents and helped others build relationships with farmers. She has helped ensure that agriculture in Berks County prospers today.”
When Hautau was hired as an agronomy agent, there was no extension staff dedicated to working with the large mushroom and tree fruit industry in Berks County. Hautau stepped up to serve these industries for years.
“Mena always approached new challenges in a direct and practical way, and in doing so she earned the respect of the farming community,” Swackhamer wrote.
When many farms were beginning to explore organics as a potentially profitable option, Hautau pursued rigorous training about organic production and USDA certification to increase her skills.
Gregory Stricker and his father, Forrest Stricker, wrote about Hautau’s help as their dairy farm, Spring Creek Farms in Heidelberg Township, transitioned from conventional to organic grazing.
Hautau teamed with USDA Agriculture Research Service to conduct a study of the effects of grazing pasture so they knew what was best for lactating cows. Then, she helped others learn the results.
“Farmers can’t take such large risks and changes without help from people who can spend time researching these big dilemmas,” the Strickers wrote in a letter supporting Hautau’s nomination.
The Strickers also wrote about how Hautau secured funding and organized farmers to come together over a lunch to discuss successful organic and crop farming. The pasture walk in collaboration with PASA Sustainable Agriculture attracted 50 participants. Hautau established study circles that brought peer learning to organic farmers.
“This sounds like such a simple concept, but it sticks out as one of the most beneficial series of meetings we have attended,” the Strickers wrote. “There is no better teacher than other farmers that have successfully figured out solutions to those difficult problems. Mena was wise to recognize that farmers could benefit from this. Farmers lack time and money to organize a meeting, and Mena stepped in to fill the need.”
Berks is never far
Though Hautau moved to the Midwest in 2016, Berks County has been as close to her as a needle and thread.
Hautau said among the many things she’s done since moving, she’s been quilting.
When in Berks, she took a class on how to create wall hanging quilts at Wooden Bridge Dry Goods in Maxatawny Township. She’s gone on to sew several. Most recently she made what she called her pandemic quilt.
“I learned to sew when I was in 4-H where I was raised in northern New Jersey,” Hautau said. “Too bad I’m still not in Berks County because it’s such as rich area for quilting.”
Hautau is living in Stillwater, Minn., with her spouse who has retired.
Hautau said when she started in the field just a generation of women were breaking barriers, earning college degrees in not only in agriculture but in science.
Women were in the minority in agriculture extension service. By the time she left Pennsylvania, she said more than half of the field crop educators were women.
“That’s progress in gender equality,” Hautau said. “Men and women are both suited for extension education.
“My observation is it doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman. Typically you have respect if you have gray hair. It’s especially true in agriculture. It’s really related to your knowledge. Being open to what they say, watching what they are doing and listening has nothing to do with gender.”
Hautau said her mentoring came from men of the World War II generation who wanted to see young people continue in the field.
Hautau said the working women in her family were role models: her mother was a nurse, and she had an aunt who was a head librarian.
Growing up in a horticulture family business prepared her to understand and work with farming families. Hautau said she had an uncle who was gruff and difficult to work with.
“But I knew inside he was a softy,” she said. “You have to listen to what’s underneath.”
Hautau said she could relate to farmers.
“Sometimes you work and wonder if you get any return,” she said.
But farmers are also attracted to the freedom and independence of agriculture.
“In Berks County
there is a lot of tradition,” she said. “That’s a lot to live up to. The benefit is you have a lot of indigenous knowledge.”
That generational knowledge is also why farming in southeastern Pennsylvania remains successful. Another reason is the proximity to urban markets that enables farmers to pivot to niche crops or agritourism.
Hautau said Berks has a great soil and climate for growing many crops.
“It’s one of the richest places to grow anything,” Hautau said. “We used to joke: If cows eat and people eat it, I cover it.”
Hautau said she’s spent winters housesitting on Block Island, R.I. She said it is a place that she connects to emotionally. The community is different in the winter when tourists are gone.
It turns out for Hautau retirement isn’t all about quilting or other pursuits.
“What is ironic is that in my group of quilters they found out my background,” she said. “And they asked me to judge plant science projects for 4H and crop, garden and vet exhibits. I think its funny because at one point I had to line up the judges.”