Yumeng Chen is one of the 2026 Nuffield Scholars who has been sponsored by Hort Innovation.

Her project will explore how virtual modelling can optimise production systems and decision-making in vegetable growing. As she describes it the project will look at ways of using a virtual model of part of a farm, or part of an operation’s supply chain, combined with historical sales and production data, to forecast what will be needed in the year ahead.

Yumeng is a Senior Account Manager with Fragapane Farms, which grows lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, celery and other green vegetable crops near Werribee in Victoria. She’s responsible for the domestic retailers and the export markets, but is also involved in projects related to supply planning, demand forecasting and data analytics.