“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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Country Roads Take Me Home
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Our TGS Old Boys' Wall of Achievement
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A Musical Reflection
As Director of Performing Arts, there is perhaps no bigger undertaking than a School musical. It requires an enormous effort from a huge team of teachers and students, and to get all these moving parts heading in the same direction is certainly no mean feat. The 2023 co-production of Footloose was my first time involved in a Toowoomba Grammar School and Fairholme College musical, and I found it to be a very rewarding, though exhausting, experience. The process began in Term 3, 2022, as my…
TGS Success in GPS Sport
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Toowoomba Grammar School is proud to introduce the newest addition to our education team, Amanda Gibson. Amanda commenced in Term 4, 2023 in the pivotal role of Head of Diverse Learners and will bring new direction and focus to the position in alignment with our commitment to inclusive education, aligning seamlessly with our Strategic Plan 2022-2026 and the Inclusive Education Policy. “I am very excited about developing this role,” said Amanda. “I have a passion for fostering environments where…
Get Involved in Everything
As Senior Prefect at Toowoomba Grammar School, I have had the opportunity to witness the benefits of being an all-rounder firsthand. With the various activities and programs the School offers, the ability to be involved in as many things as possible is not only enjoyable but brings about numerous benefits that extend far beyond the school years. Ranging from sports to drama and debating, participating in anything the School has to offer is an excellent way to make friends and build networks of…
