For Lisa Kearines, farming at scale brings a different set of pressures.

Working with Ogden Pastoral Company in central NSW, Lisa helps manage a large mixed operation spread across seven properties, stretching roughly 140km.

With around 230,000 acres under management and approximately 20,000 hectares cropped each year, efficiency, safety and consistency are critical.

“We’re a mixed operation,” Lisa explains.

“We mainly grow cereals, wheat, barley and some oats for our own hay, along with peas and canola in recent years.

“We also run about 2000 Angus cattle and a few sheep, so there’s always a lot going on.”

That scale is matched by the size of the team. Around 12 full-time staff, supported by contractors when required, operate across multiple sites. With so many people involved, systems need to work for everyone, every time.

“Safety is a priority for us,” Lisa says.

“Everyone on staff goes through chemical training, whether they’re just picking up a drum from town or actually spraying.”

The spraying operation reflects that focus.

The business runs two 36m tow-behind sprayers on John Deere 8R tractors, along with a smaller linkage unit for tighter areas. Tanks and fill points are positioned strategically across the properties to reduce travel and minimise handling.

“We try to keep everything as closed circuit as possible,” Lisa explains.

“We use shuttles and 110’s (litres) wherever we can and limit manual handling.”

Lisa’s own experience with back pain means she knows first-hand how challenging handling product can be.

“I physically couldn’t lift the bags of ammonium sulphate we were using before,” she says.

Lisa also points out many staff are not built to regularly lift 25kg bags, including some team members with physical limitations that make manual handling risky.

“If they don’t have to be lifting bags over their shoulder and trying to measure them out, all the better,” she says.

Outright 770 was introduced via agronomic advice when the business was looking for alternatives to traditional ammonium sulphate and multi-product mixes. The immediate benefit was simplification, but over time its broader purpose became clear.

“Outright takes away a whole step in the process,” Lisa explains.

According to Vicchem territory manager Jeshua Smith, the role of Outright 770 is to streamline spray programs by combining ammonium sulphate, surfactants and oils into a single product. For large-scale operations like Ogden Pastoral, that means faster filling, fewer compatibility risks and less exposure for operators.

From a paddock perspective, Lisa is realistic about expectations.

“It gives us the same results as what we were using before,” she says.

Outright 770 fits into both summer fallow and pre-sowing programs, helping the business stay on top of weeds early and conserve moisture in a low-to-medium rainfall environment.

“Moisture conservation is critical for us.” We need to get onto weeds while they’re fresh and young so they don’t rob the moisture we’ll need later,“ Lisa explains.

Asked how she would describe Outright 770 to someone unfamiliar with it, Lisa keeps it simple - we use it because it’s easy to use, easy to measure, convenient and safe.

“It takes a lot of the hassle out of doing a tank mix.”

About Outright 770

Outright 770 Spray Adjuvant by Vicchem is a purpose built formulation that combines ammonium sulphate, penetrating oil and non-ionic surfactants in one product.

Designed to simplify summer fallow spraying, it improves herbicide performance while reducing mixing complexity, compatibility issues and downtime.

Outright 770 also helps manage the impacts of variable and hard water, improving spray reliability where water quality can otherwise affect herbicide performance.

Compatible with glyphosate and commonly used knockdown programs, Outright 770 is used by growers looking for reliable, straightforward spray solutions when timing matters most.

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Friday, 14th May 2027

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