Jake Moon
WORDS : Alice Armitage IMAGES : Georgia Hoolihan
We had a few hiccups on the day that I turned up on Jake’s doorstep, the doorstep of the home his grandfather built when the Moon family first moved to the region in the 70s, but nothing seems to phase him. When you first meet Jake, he comes across as quiet and unassuming and it’s been my experience that often the unassuming ones are those that have really considered themselves, their futures and what they hope to contribute.
Jake is no exception and his genuine nature and candid approach to this interview was a reflection of that. Jake’s path home hasn’t been a linear one, and his story shows us that travelling down a different road often leads to experiences that alter us for the better.
This interview forms part of our conversational series, where we chat to some everyday country kids calling regional Australia home. I wanted to put together this series to showcase some of the brilliant young minds making the active decision to come home and make a real contribution to the future of regional communities, showing it only takes a willing few to make a difference to the prosperity of a region.
What was your childhood like?
I had an awesome childhood. I was so lucky. I’ve got one sister, Emily but our family friends that live just down the road always made me feel like I had three brothers. We did some seriously wild things but had the best time and a great life. The older I get the more I understand how great my childhood really was.
And then like so many of us country kids you went away to school?
I sure did. I went to Toowoomba Grammar and had the best five years of my life. I had so much fun and met so many great people. I’m so fortunate to have been able to go to that school and I’m so grateful for everything my parents did to make sure I had that opportunity. I loved every aspect of it and the relationships I built there have had such a huge impact on me. There aren’t many days that go by that I don’t lean on that network of people.
After engaging in the rite of passage of working up ‘North’ after school, you came home for a couple of years?
I got into a bit of mischief when I was up north and ended up having to come home earlier than I would have liked. I fell into working here at home for a couple of years. I was so lucky to have had that time here when I did. I didn’t know it at the time but it really shaped my understanding of things and what I wanted to do and achieve for myself. I was a bit lost when I first came home but we had some really skilled people working for us, skilled people that I learnt so much from. They taught me to be passionate about building and creating things as well as developing my skills. I started to really enjoy what I was doing especially when it came to engineering and building solutions to things.
When you were little, did you always want to come home to the farm and be here?
For sure, but I think I was conflicted about it as well. All I’d ever known was that I wanted to farm, but we were certainly pushed to go and do something else with ourselves. Now the time I’ve spent away from the farm is the greatest thing. I developed so many skills and so much understanding of other things. If for whatever reason I left the farm today and never came back I know I could make something of myself with the skills and knowledge that I have.
Three years after that stint at home you decided to leave and spend some time away. Can you tell me a little about why?
A few things seemed to happen all at once, it felt like such a rollercoaster of events. At the time it felt like the foundations of my existence all fell apart. My parents split up, it wasn’t in any way a bad divorce but I really struggled knowing I’d been living in the same house as them and hadn’t even realised they were going through that. My long term relationship ended and my mental health really started to crash. I lost all passion for my job. At that stage in my life I didn’t have the ability to really understand or process all of these things and felt so confused about losing the drive I felt like I’d just found for myself. I became so withdrawn over that time, I just completely shut off from everyone. I got to a point where I was so unhappy I knew I needed to do something different for a while. Which was ultimately the best decision, if I hadn’t left for a while and really sorted myself out I’d still be walking around here with the same shitty attitude.
So where did you go?
I went fencing, in the middle of absolute nowhere. I knew a guy who had a contracting business and would take me on and I just wanted to get away. Somehow I knew what I needed at that time was to get away, to have nothing but a bed, the occasional feed and no service for a while. I wanted to just work to the bone – I spent four months working long days in the 40 degree heat. Jeez it was hard but I was so fortunate to work with Justin and his beautiful family. They really looked after me and gave me exactly what I needed at the time. In a lot of ways that time really put me on the path I’m on now. It rained a fair bit when we were fencing so when we weren’t working I’d drive across to Cairns and just camp in the back of my ute. I’d cruise along the coast and see all the different beaches. I learnt to be really good at being alone with myself.
After that you spent some time working for someone else in Goondiwindi and now you’ve made your way back home. How did that transition back again happen for you?
Even if I didn’t consciously know it, I was always destined to come back. This place is in my bones. While I was working in Goondiwindi I started to get involved in a few things. I went to a horticulture conference with Dad and went on a few grower trips. Those things helped me see the business in a new way and I was just ready to come back and be a part of its future. I’d started coming home a lot more when I could, leaving reluctantly like I was being sent back to school. It took me some time to walk away from my job in Goondiwindi because I really loved working with them, but it was time. Dad had started offering me a few different roles around the place and I eventually said yes.
How would you describe your role in the business at the moment?
I’m the service manager. My role consists of overseeing acquisitions for our fleet of machinery, trucks and processing equipment, as well as a lot of R&D with new infrastructure and farming equipment, including all design stages and engineering. My plan with the job I’m doing at the moment is to build enough of a digital footprint and software solution so that we can totally streamline the whole process to make it as efficient as possible. Hopefully streamlining the whole process to make myself redundant, then I can move onto something new.
And amongst all of this you got yourself a degree as well?
While I was working. It was so much work, but also great to be able to put what I was learning into practice in a really practical way everyday.
Can you explain to me a little more about your operation here? What exactly do you grow?
We’ve grown lots of different things over the years but our rotation now is mainly onions, garlic, pumpkins and cotton. We pack and process everything here on the farm and essentially have three different ways we distribute our produce. Most goes straight into Coles as fresh produce, we process some of our onions ready for the likes of McDonalds, Subway and Hungry Jacks and then we have our own line of garlic products, G’day Garlic. It’s taken a long time to build up to where we are now, especially when it comes to distribution, which is Dad’s area of expertise.
It seems like it’s your dad’s life’s work in a way?
In a lot of ways, absolutely. It’s all a massive team effort between dad and my uncle David, but it’s amazing to watch him in action and realise just how many relationships he’s successfully built, particularly in the horticulture space.
Growing cotton and vegetables seems like they must be such completely different ways of operating. In your own mind, how have you guys managed to balance the production of both so well?
They almost function like two separate businesses. I’ve always been around cotton production and it’s a hard thing not to love, there is a romance about it somehow. But I also love the madness of horticulture, it’s such a progressive industry. The innovation happening in that space is awesome, and we all need to eat! There is an intersection with both, the world is pushing for more transparency around where their food comes from and where their clothes come from. Cotton and horticulture both play into that in their own ways.
To me, there is a clear shift in the market that would relate to both your cotton and vegetable production. That is that people are becoming more interested in understanding where the food and fibres they consume come from. Has that been your experience as well?
Absolutely, the whole world is changing and technology is enabling traceability methods that are very cool. People want to be shown the methods of how we grow and produce things here. Individuals are becoming more aware and interested in biodiversity, the environment and the impact food production methods can have on their own health. Which is why we invest so much in being able to showcase what we do in as many different ways possible, whether that be through end to end traceability or through the growth of our consumer facing brand and marketing.
I’m sure you find it super refreshing to work in a business that has such a progressive approach to everything you do?
Particularly with my own work. A lot of the machinery I work with has been custom built and developed by us. It’s super cool to see and to be a part of. It’s super cool to be able to spend my days that way.
It’s not always easy to find common ground with others and support for what you’re trying to achieve in a regional context. How do you personally find it, being in a regional community when you’re trying to do something really different and progressive?
Regional communities can be very isolating and it’s just another barrier. Sometimes it would just be great to be able to talk to someone about something in particular and it’s not always easy to find people with the necessary perspective locally. But it’s why I love the wider horticulture industry, being a part of that community offers me the opportunity to get in front of some incredible people and to learn from them. People with businesses, skills and experiences greater than I can really comprehend. There are a lot of progressive growers around this area but when you’re really trying to innovate in every way I think you need to search for answers outside your local community and I’m lucky enough to be able to get exposure to that larger scale thinking across the industry at a bigger scale.
Do you think the climate is changing?
I think that humans are changing as well. We’re all contributing to changing the environment, even if you only take into consideration the impact of infrastructure, the climate has no choice but to change in the face of that. It’s something that I’m not sure we can all come to terms with here in Australia. From some of the time I’ve spent travelling in Asia, it’s confronting to see the extent of the damage being done and at the end of the day I hope that everything we’re doing from a sustainability point of view is just putting us in the best position to face whatever the future holds for us.
With that being said, what does sustainability mean to you and what are you trying to do to build a more sustainable future?
Sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do. I’d say that 85% of our existence at the moment is focused on building a more sustainable future. For instance, we have a massive push towards cover cropping. Which is undeniably great for soil health. Weed management is tricky with vegetable production but cover cropping is giving us a chance to naturally manage weeds, the biomass from those cover crops isn’t giving weeds the chance to establish at all in some cases. We’re doing our best to move towards natural fertilisers and to implement any practices that will allow us to reduce our chemical usage.
You’re speaking a lot about soil when talking about sustainability - could you explain a little more about what you think the relationship is between soil health and sustainability?
We only get one patch of soil and once it’s depleted that’s it. So looking after what we’ve got is essential to having any future in farming at all. It’s like any resource, you don’t expect a battery to keep working if you never charge it. It’s super manageable to really look after your soil but it doesn’t happen by accident. It never ceases to amaze, the way that healthy soil can be beneficial. For example, over this most recent cotton season a lot of people in the areas were having issues with fusarium disease, which is a soil based fungus. But we were able to manage it through our cover cropping and rotational management. I’m sure that’s directly correlated to the quality of our soil here on the farm. We’re doing what we can to implement the best management practices across all facets of our operation. Whether it be cotton production, weed management in our onions, the packaging we use or the waste reduction pathways we are pursuing with our value-adding brands. We can’t afford to not be ahead of the game, none of us can.
What does legacy mean to you? How do you hope to play a role in the future of your own family’s legacy?
It would be nice to not fuck it all up. Legacy obviously means a lot to me and the passion I have for our business is the answer to how I hope to play a role I guess. I’m so passionate about agriculture and everyday I go to work and try to give it 110%, whether I’m having a good day or bad, because I know everyday is a chance to push towards the future.
One could argue that it’s the ultimate privilege, having this vehicle to live your life for your passion.
I guess that’s true. I don’t know what my role will look like in the future or what my general life plan is yet, but I do know that I care about the footprint that agriculture leaves. I’m super fortunate to be part of a family business that offers endless opportunities for me to be involved in so many different elements of the industry I care about. At the end of the day I’ll see where the wind takes me and do whatever I can to put my best foot forward along the way.
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