Matt Zagami is an energetic mixed-crop farmer who is proud of the business he has grown with his wife Katie and four children.
His farm AvaGrow is at Wairewa, a small community north-east of Lakes Entrance, in East Gippsland.
It grows peas, beans, and cabbage across 180 hectares.
However, the Zagami family’s fortunes changed forever on December 30, 2019. Fires destroyed their newly renovated home, most of the summer crop and caused extensive damage to sheds, machinery and fencing.
The Zagami family home was destroyed by fires. Source: SBS
“Oh, it was heartbreaking. We couldn't believe that in excess of probably 90 per cent of our property burned,” Mr Zagami told Small Business Secrets.
“We thought we'd get away with part burned, but not the whole thing.”
The family are lucky to have survived at all. They fled the burning property with the clothes they were wearing and a couple of backpacks.
“Rebuilding the house is really daunting to us at the moment,” Mr Zagami explained.
“We had just finished renovating so we'd spent probably three or four years doing that.
“It's going to be a really, really tough process to go through.”
Matt Zagami has started re-planting for spring. Source: SBS
Back in January, driving across the devastated property, Matt Zagami pointed out the vast damage to his fields. Insurance has covered the replacement of burned machinery and sheds, but the summer and autumn vegetables were a write off.
“The financial impact is devastating for us.
“We had eight to 10 hectares [of beans] in the ground at that time. With prices between probably $5 and $10 a kilo, it's around that $100,000 per hectare that we potentially have lost.
“So, we're not going to get much out of this growing season. We're already looking towards next growing season to really make a rebound.”
Like many rural producers, the family was left without a home and income as costs piled up.
Community support has helped the Zagami family get back on its feet. Source: Supplied
Community support has helped them keep going.
“Local people from the footie club come out and helped as well as some local vegetable growers.
“It was really hard to make decisions, but these guys just made decisions for me and got me off my bum and into doing the things that we needed to do to get crop back in the ground.
“Without them it would have been very difficult.
Matt Zagami was recently approved for a 75-thousand-dollar bushfire recovery grant which covers machinery and cattle yards.
He has also replanted some crops but struggled to hire contract pickers during the pandemic, adding to the stress.
“People are quite emotional when they see you. And we've cried a lot of tears and we've gone through a lot.”
The Zagami family hopes for a better year ahead. Source: Supplied
Matt Zagami is applying for a low-interest loan, and can only hope for a better spring season.
“The next year is actually bringing a lot of promise. We will start with a clean slate.
“We've got a couple of vegetable crops that we've planted since [the fires]. Really we're looking at our farm production as a new beginning.
“We don't have much that is holding us back and it gives us an opportunity to look at things in a totally different way.
