James Robinson Newtown- cunningham, Donegal It continues to be a wet spring in Donegal. Around 91mm of rain fell on James’s farm over the past month with just a few dry days. Ground conditions have been poor and he has had to pick and choose when he sprays. “It’s been a difficult spring for getting spray timings right,” he says. James's early-sown spring barley is coming along well. Crops are well behind where they were this time last year on account of the colder weather, according to James. Crop development is also slower. For example, his T2 and T3 fungicide spray in his winter barley were 25 days apart. However this slow development isn’t necessarily a bad thing, he says.