Beautiful blue and violet flowers have bloomed in Norfolk fields after a combination of farming factors sparked a switch to growing linseed.
The familiar summer hue of vibrant yellow from oilseed rape has given way to cooler tones this year as some farmers seek alternatives to the high-risk crop.
At the Shotesham Estate, south of Norwich, farm manager Jon Nott said this summer will be the first in his 25 years at the estate that he will not be harvesting oilseed rape.
Instead, he is growing 40 hectares of linseed as its prices and margins have improved, it is less vulnerable to pests, and it requires fewer costly fertilisers and chemicals.
Mr Nott said the early-harvested crop also fitted with the farm's rotation and work schedule - as well as being a visually-pleasing change in the countryside's colour palette.
"The public seem to like it," he said. "And it works really well for us.
"We used to grow linseed every year until four or five years ago, but then we were not getting the gross margins or the yields we were expecting, so we dropped it.
"Now the price seems to have moved away from oilseed rape and created its own market, so the prices are way better than they have been, therefore the margins have come up to make it a much more respectable break crop - hence the reason for growing more."
After last year's drought-hit summer, with no moistuire in the ground, Mr Nott said it was "just too much of a gamble" to sow oilseed rape, particularly with destructive flea beetle pests becoming rampant in the absence of banned pesticides.
However linseed, also known as flax, is not a target for flea beetles or slugs, and the versatile oil from its seeds can be used in a variety of ways including for food supplements, paints and wood varnish - traditionally applied to cricket bats.
"In recent years, oilseed rape has become such a high-risk crop, and all our costs have been going up, making it an even higher risk, so I can understand why people would want to look elsewhere," said Mr Nott.
"It was reassuring having grown linseed before - we knew we could grow it and we knew what to expect."
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