MAY PEN, Clarendon — Sixty years after its inception, the National Farm Queen Competition is being repositioned for a new generation, with organiser Velonique Bowen determined to establish the event as a premier agricultural platform in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.

Bowen, who spearheaded this year’s staging alongside co-ordinator Jameika Johnson, described the 60th staging of the competition as a “resounding success”, saying the team had succeeded in increasing its visibility while improving the quality and relevance of the event.

The Diamond Jubilee staging was held on July 31 at the President’s Pavilion during the 72nd Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show in May Pen, Clarendon, where St Thomas native Kapri Scott was crowned the 2026 National Farm Queen.

But for Bowen, the significance of this year’s competition went beyond crowning a new queen, noting that it was also an opportunity to reflect on the competition’s history and the challenges it has faced over the years.

Velonique Bowen, organiser of the 2026 National Farm Queen competition.

“In assessing those 60 years, we would have seen some gaps and found that the competition was mistaken for Festival Queen or persons simply did not know about it,” Bowen said.

She said one of the primary objectives this year was therefore to distinguish Farm Queen as a standalone agricultural competition while demonstrating the impact participation can have on contestants and their communities.

“We have revitalised the competition and ushered in a new era of Farm Queen while honouring the 60-year legacy,” she expressed.

That revitalisation included a stronger corporate push, with Serge serving as the main sponsor and BYD coming on board as the official transportation sponsor for the queen’s year-long reign. Under the partnership, Scott will have BYD transportation available for her official duties throughout her tenure.

For Bowen, securing corporate backing was among the most satisfying aspects of this year’s staging, given the competition’s historical struggles in attracting sponsorship.

Co-ordinators of the national farm queen competition Jameika Johnson (left) and Velonique Bowen.

“One of the things Farm Queen struggled with over the years was a lack of sponsorship, a lack of buy-in from corporate Jamaica to support the competition,” she said.

She expressed particular pride in seeing companies recognise the value of investing in a competition that has agriculture at its core, while also praising Johnson for her role in bringing the 2026 staging to life.

The renewed focus comes against the backdrop of Jamaica’s continuing need to strengthen food security and attract more young people into agriculture.

Bowen believes that changing the public’s perception of the sector is critical to achieving that.

“The national farm queen competition is still important in Jamaica today because food security in Jamaica is important and will always be important,” she said.

“We have been trying to showcase that we are in a new phase of food in terms of agriculture. Agriculture is not what we thought or what we traditionally know it to be in terms of it being a cutlass and a hoe.”

For Bowen, agriculture must be viewed as a modern, diverse industry capable of attracting some of the country’s brightest minds.

“The brightest minds ought to go into agriculture. It is not a backup plan or something you do if you didn’t do so well in school,” she emphasized.

This year’s contestants were intended to embody that message, with participants involved in areas ranging from pig and livestock farming to watermelon and sorrel production, as well as agro-processing.

The competition’s new queen, Kapri Scott, is herself involved in multiple areas of the industry, a combination she believes helped distinguish her from the other contestants.

“I think what sets me apart from the other contestants is my involvement in multiple aspects of the agricultural sector. I am in livestock farming, crop farming, agro-processing and all of those combined just made me diverse,” Scott said.

She also wants to use her reign to challenge perceptions of women in the sector.

“Women can be more than farmers. They can be anything they want to be because the sector is so diverse,” Scott said.

Her national project will focus on encouraging farmers to venture into agro-processing, assisting them with registering their businesses and encouraging students to pursue agro-processing studies at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE).

Scott believes the initiative can help reduce post-harvest losses while creating more opportunities to strengthen Brand Jamaica.

The national project requirement was among the initiatives introduced as part of efforts to give the queen a more active role as an agricultural ambassador.

Bowen hopes that will become an increasingly important part of Farm Queen’s identity as the competition grows.

She wants the event to eventually be recognised as the premier agricultural competition of its kind, not just in Jamaica but throughout the region.

“I envision that it will be one of the most competitive competitions where you have to take representing agriculture seriously,” she said.

“We want all the companies that have any kind of alignment with agriculture to come forward but also we want companies who rely in any way on food security whether in a direct or indirect way to also come on board,” she said.

With the 60th staging now completed, Bowen believes Farm Queen has entered a new chapter, one in which the crown represents not simply a pageant title, but a platform to showcase the women, ideas and opportunities shaping the future of Jamaican agriculture.