Rotary Club of Numurkah

02/11/2026

NUMURKAH OPEN GARDENS IS BACK THIS WEEKEND 7th & 8th NOVEMBER!
Presented by Rotary Club of Numurkah, this year’s Open Garden Program is your chance to have a wander through 8 beautiful local gardens — all for just $20!
And there’s a little bonus… you’ll also find a bonus garden at one of the locations.
$20 entry
EFTPOS available at one location only at the Catholic Church
Refreshments will be available at some locations
Sorry, no dogs
Grab your friends, family or gardening buddies and come along for a lovely day out in the garden.
Pick up a map of locations and details of all the gardens at the first garden you visit.
To whet your appetite here is a preview, featuring one of the gardens.
The Olde Creamery, 1333 Rendells Road. Established in 2016, the Olde Creamery is a rustic farm stay, a micro farm specialising in dahlias. Gareth and Jamie sell small bouquets, dahlia tubers and live plants, condiments and pantry items.
Four of the gardens have previously been featured in our Open Garden Program, but all have undergone further development with the addition of extra features, and some have been enlarged. All worth another look!

02/11/2026

01/11/2026

NUMURKAH OPEN GARDENS IS BACK THIS WEEKEND 7th & 8th NOVEMBER!
Presented by Rotary Club of Numurkah, this year’s Open Garden Program is your chance to have a wander through 8 beautiful local gardens — all for just $20!
And there’s a little bonus… you’ll also find a bonus garden at one of the locations.
$20 entry
EFTPOS available at one location only Catholic Church
Refreshments will be available at some locations
Sorry, no dogs
Grab your friends, family or gardening buddies and come along for a lovely day out in the garden.
Pick up a map and details of all the gardens at the first garden you visit.
To whet your appetite here is a preview, featuring one of the gardens.
Catholic Church, 16-20 Tocumwal Road. A peaceful reflective indigenous garden featuring wandering trails, with history panels and garden art along the way. The garden honours and tells the history of the Josephite siters who have served Numurkah starting with Mary Mackillop in a native landscape.

01/11/2026

SAVE THE DATE - NUMURKAH OPEN GARDENS IS BACK THIS WEEKEND 7th & 8th NOVEMBER!
Presented by Rotary Club of Numurkah, this year’s Open Garden Program is your chance to have a wander through 8 beautiful local gardens — all for just $20!
And there’s a little bonus… you’ll also find a bonus garden at one of the locations.
$20 entry
EFTPOS available at one location only
Refreshments will be available at some locations
Sorry, no dogs
Grab your friends, family or gardening buddies and come along for a lovely day out in the garden.
Pick up a map of location and details of all the gardens at the first garden you visit.
To whet your appetite here is a sneak peek at one of the gardens.
The Lau's, 17 Russell Street. Palms and fens of all shapes and sizes, stonework creating a cascade of streams and waterfalls. A beautiful shade house with prize winning orchids, all contained within an interesting rear garden.

31/10/2026

SAVE THE DATE - NUMURKAH OPEN GARDENS IS BACK! 7th & 8th November.
Presented by Rotary Club of Numurkah, this year’s Open Garden Program is your chance to have a wander through 8 beautiful local gardens — all for just $20!
And there’s a little bonus… you’ll also find a bonus garden at one of the locations.
$20 entry
EFTPOS available at one location only
Refreshments will be available at some locations
Sorry, no dogs
Grab your friends, family or gardening buddies and come along for a lovely day out in the garden.
Featuring Steel & Church Garden 519 Fuzzards Road. This 13-year-old garden was developed from a clean slate with one 59-year-old rose, to a 2-acre garden of all styles and colours of roses, perennials, bulbs, natives, palm trees, maples and succulents.

31/10/2026

Rotary Club of Numurkah Open Garden Program is on again 7 & 8 November. Eight magnificent gardens are on display from 10am to 4pm. The Smith's Garden at 1036 Hendys Road features antiques, farm machinery, art sculptures, which have been added to this beautiful rural oasis.. Hardy plants and natives feature in the garden beds, with a wandering path leading to a small redgum plantation.

29/10/2026

26/10/2026

Will Phillips

Will’s grandfather established a fine Merino flock in the 1960s in Seymour, managing approximately 3,500 acres and 3,000 Merino breeding ewes. The operation peaked in the mid-90s, initially producing wool between 17 and 19 microns then transitioning to strong wool.

Will holds a Bachelor of Business Management and a Master’s of Ag Science (specialising in animal science). His experience includes work at sheep stations in the Grampians (Thermopylae) and contracting in drenching and mustering. He also spent a few years cropping with Fred Hodge.

Will is currently focused on transitioning a crossbred-heavy farm in Echuca toward a self-replacing Merino program to reduce long-term costs and diversify income through both wool and meat.

1. Breeding & Genetics:

Moving away from buying ewes by establishing a self-replacing flock using Waco (New South Wales) and Elma bloodlines.

Chose "big dual-purpose" ewes that are "tough" for flood-irrigated land (better foot health) and produce high-quality ewe lambs.

Increased scanning rates from 130% to 135% through nutritional management and classing ewes by weight before joining.

2. Feedlot Management

The farm utilises two feedlots: one manual and one automated (FeedTech).

Feedlots are high-cost operations (up to $5,000/day at peak capacity of 5,000 lambs). Efficiency is critical; the goal is to keep lambs in the lot for no more than 80 days to save approximately $50,000 in costs.

Lambs are sold at roughly 60kg live weight, yielding about 54% "over the hook."

3. Technology

Utilising electronic identification to track individual performance, specifically monitoring average daily weight gain.

The target is 300g/day. Data allows for automatic drafting of "underperformers" and identifying ewes that consistently produce twins.

Current market conditions are challenging. While profit was historically ~$5/head, rising input costs (lambs bought at $280 vs. $130 previously) mean many operations are currently only covering costs or making ~$1/head.