Aussie Ag Giant Killed In Plane Crash
Published online: Dec 16, 2005
Viewed 3131 time(s)
Web Exclusive
Peter Menegazzo, Australia's biggest potato grower before he switched and become one of the country's biggest cattle producers, was killed along with his wife when his plane crashed in severe weather on a flight to his home town of Swan Hill in Victoria.
Menegazzo and wife, Angela, were flying from Brisbane when the eight-seat aircraft crashed in New South Wales and burst into flames. The wreckage was strewn over 495 acres.
Menegazzo owned 240,000 head of cattle, making him the third biggest cattle owner in Australia.
He was a member of a family that farmed the fertile delta of the Werribee River near Melbourne and built the business to become fruit and vegetable merchants across Australia.
In the mid-1980s he moved to Swan Hill, began growing potatoes, and became the country's biggest potato farmer.