“That’s what Nuffield has given me, exactly the same as TGS — a networking capability that is just beyond what I can even explain. It is something you have forever.”Jake Moon
My time at TGS has given me a networking capability beyond what I can explain — it’s something you have forever.
Jake Moon is a sixth-generation primary producer. He is dedicated to agriculture and is currently working at his family’s St George farming enterprise, tackling some of the sector’s biggest challenges.
The 28-year-old says his family moved to the St George irrigation precinct in 1978, initially growing rockmelons and watermelons, hence the business name Moonrocks. Seasonal and market changes led them to switch crops frequently, growing grapes, broccoli and even wax flowers over the years. Currently, they grow onions, garlic, pumpkins, grapes and cotton. Jake explains that they grow and pack everything on site. They regularly supply major chain stores all over Australia and have diversified, launching the e-commerce business, G’day Garlic, to sell directly to customers.
An idyllic childhood on the farm meant he was primed for his current job. “I spent a lot of my years in the workshop annoying our mechanics and boilermakers. Unbeknownst to me, I learned a lot — pulling small engines apart when I was 11 or 12 years old; I just thought that was normal.”
The TGS Old Boy boarded from 2010 to 2014 and rates his years at the School as some of the best of his life, cherishing the friends and networks he established. He credits TGS Vocational Education and Training Coordinator, Mrs Marian Rathie as his saving grace at TGS. “I was very fortunate to have had the relationship I had with her because she helped me.”
Jake says that despite now having completed his Graduate Diploma in Agribusiness (Horticultural Business) at the University of Tasmania, it was good not to feel like a failure for choosing not to go to university upon leaving TGS. That, he said, was Mrs Rathie’s best piece of advice and it stuck with him.
After TGS, Jake worked as a ringer at Lorraine Station near Burketown before returning to his family’s farm for several years. He later joined JKT Contract Fencing in Central Queensland, which was owned by a friend and former Moonrocks employee. Afterwards, he moved to Goondiwindi, where he worked in broadacre cropping, heavy haulage and logistics.
In 2022, Jake moved back to St George and took on a role with Moonrocks as the engineering and maintenance manager.
Jake won a 2024 Nuffield Scholarship, awarded to a small number of Australian farmers each year. It aims to unlock individual potential and broaden horizons through study and travel overseas. His topic is titled “Harvesting and Storage — The Missing Puzzle Pieces for Garlic and Onions.”
Jake’s focus is on “the mechanisation of onion and garlic harvesting and optimising post-harvest storage processes, essentially trying to innovate better ways to guarantee a premium product.” His scholarship is supported by Hort Innovation using the Onion Research and Development Levy.
Jake has already been to Brazil and the United States, making connections in the international farming community.
OMNIBUS / BALLIWANGA IS GOING DIGITAL
In 2025, there will be an increased digital distribution of the Omnibus and Balliwanga magazine. Increasingly, readers are requesting a digital edition only. Moving to a largely digital publication will also support the School’s goal of being an environmentally sustainable organisation.
If your alumni year is 1975 or earlier, you will continue to receive a printed copy in the post. For those whose alumni year is 1976 or later, you will receive a digital edition, however you can opt in to continue receiving a printed edition.
Those wishing to continue to receive a print copy can opt in using the link below.
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TGS Rugby Ambassadors' Program
“As a Grammar boy, you have the Blue and Gold in your blood for life. You’ve got connections and networks because of this special bond. It’s hard to describe what it is exactly; I think it stems from the history and traditions that are passed down to each generation but it’s something you carry your entire life, you’re part of this team.” – TGS Old Boy (1960-63) John Campbell, Senior Prefect 1963, Captain 1st XV Rugby 1963. John was excited to learn in a recent edition of The Blue and Gold…
TGS Leading the Way for IT in Education
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Holiday Reading
Reading is one of those activities that, the more you do, the better you get, and with the holidays fast approaching, now is the perfect time to read that book you’ve always wanted to, finish a book you’ve started or try something new. It is important to keep reading over the holidays, so that we don’t step backward in our reading journey. As the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has found, reading for pleasure is a habit that can prove essential to performing well…
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The Barbour Connection
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Recently I was in a webinar that aimed to tackle the issues surrounding technology and its effects on students. Some members of the forum started openly criticising boys for their poor behaviour. Whilst their criticisms were not directed specifically at our boys, I was offended at their general statements. We can be too quick to criticise boys and we forget that their frontal lobes are still developing. We also forget that their brains are “wired” differently from girls and that they don’t see…
Accepting Our Past, Creating Our Future
Toowoomba Grammar School has added the new role of Indigenous Education Coordinator to the School’s offering, to further promote a culture of diversity, inclusivity, and reconciliation. Mr Scott Gale has been appointed to this ground-breaking position that aims to spread awareness and understanding of the significance of Australia’s culture and history. “That’s something that has been lacking in Australia’s education system for so long,” said Scott. “It’s an extremely significant part of our…
The Gift of Music
You can feel the pride and passion exude from Janelle Fletcher as she reflects on her thirty-year career as a Music Tutor at Toowoomba Grammar School. “It’s a long time to stay in any job,” she admitted. “But working with the boys, seeing how important it is to have music in their lives and to develop not only as musicians but as people, that’s what’s kept me here.” Janelle believes staff in an all-boys’ school have a real understanding of boys. “It’s been very positive for me to see the…
