Advertiser & Review photographer Steven Prouse captured this increasingly common sight of an oil-seed rape field in full bloom.

Oilseed rape – nicknamed The Sunshine Crop – is a brassica crop grown in England since the 16th century, although it disappeared from the countryside for 120 years before farmers started cultivating it again in the 1950s.

Graham Hall, Buckingham group secretary from the National Farmers Union, said the majority of rape seed grown in the UK is still used in food production although use for bio fuel is increasing. He said: "The production of bio fuels is very much in its infancy and it remains to be seen whether it will take off."

Mr Hall said the production of all types of arable crop had shot up tremendously, and prices were at a high level.

Oilseed rape oil is used for a wide range of household and industrial products, from lubricants used on oil rigs to cooking oil, fabrics, inks and sun tan lotion.