EU rules hitting Norfolk poppy fields
The poppy fields of Norfolk are vanishing because of new rules on crop production, wildlife enthusiasts fear. Poppies have thrived in recent years on land uncultivated as part of a European Union “set aside” policy to cut over-production.

But the European Union has now ruled that farmers do not have to leave fields uncultivated and their set-aside policy could be abandoned from 2009.

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust warned this is reducing the number of poppy fields.

David North, education manager at the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said: “There are fewer fields of poppies around this year – and that’s because of the change in the set-aside rules.

‘Set-aside success’
“Just driving around Norfolk, you can see that. You notice the odd one that is there more than ever. The set-aside policy has been good for poppies and many other wildflowers.”

Two years ago the trust said some of the UK’s most famous of poppy fields had been lost because of intensive farming methods introduced in the 1950s and 1960s.

Staff said a survey showed that there were no longer any fields of poppies in an area of Norfolk traditionally known as “Poppyland”.

Travel writer Clement Scott gave the Norfolk coast between Cromer and Overstrand the name in the 1880s in recognition of the scarlet landscape.

Source: news.bbc.co.uk