The Lalbert Batholith, south of Ultima exhibits an unusual magnetic pattern which may have resulted from dextral strain on the granites while they were still in a plastic state; an event that is one of the few Bindian[3] occurrences recorded in western Victoria.

Around 120 basaltic plugs were intruded, but the surface deposits associated with these were likely eroded, contributing to the detritus of the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous Otway Group.

Further up are the Late Miocene to Pliocene Bookpurnong beds, Parilla Sand, and Shepparton Formation[5] time equivalents, representing offshore marginal marine and onshore facies.

He noted that:Every day we passed over land which for natural fertility and beauty could scarcely be surpassed; over streams of unfailing abundance and plains covered with the richest pasturage.

Despite improvements, salinity remained a problem, causing productivity losses and economic hardships for farmers in areas like Ultima, Kerang, Cohuna, and Swan Hill.

The urgency to address salinity grew in the 1970s after floods hit northern Victoria, raising water tables and exacerbating the problem.

Efforts by concerned individuals and government strategies brought some success,[10] but it was the Millennium Drought (1996-2010) that ultimately provided relief from salinisation.

The first appearance of YLS in Victoria was in 1983, specifically in Ultima, 33 years after it was first observed by Valder and Shaw in New South Wales and Queensland in 1952.

[14] In the small 3 hectare 14-Mile Bushland reserve, situated 9.3 km north-east of Ultima, honeyeaters, crimson chats, cockatiels, budgerigars, bluebonnets, pied butcherbirds, yellow-throated miners, striated pardalotes and chestnut-rumped thornbills may be seen amongst its Mallee scrub.

In October 2003, winged peppercress, a nationally endangered plant species, was found in the Stony Plain Bushland Reserve, 21 km west of Ultima.

[15] The Australian Bureau of Meteorology provides climate data for Swan Hill Aerodrome, 30 km NE of Ultima.

[20] During a period of decentralisation after the gold rushes, James O'Connor having acquired the lease and having had several substantial buildings erected,[21] subdivided the land and between 1890 and 1892 offered it for sale at £55 to £74 an acre, advertising that;Mallee Land gives rapid and good returns, is easily worked at small cash expense, and numerous instances can be cited where settlers beginning with almost nothing are now by their energy and perseverance prospering and independent.

[25] Farmers formed a railway league in the mid-1890s, taking one-guinea subscriptions, to reduce the costly cartage of wheat to Swan Hill.

[29] After the First World War, returned soldiers who took up the offer to farm selections in the Mallee were given a second-class railway ticket for the 19 hour journey to Ultima and district.

[31] After marrying William Henry Jilbert in 1919, Ethel (née Stevens) photographed activities on their farm in Ultima with a Box Brownie; collections of her images are held in the State Libraries of New South Wales and Victoria.

[34] When the Legislative Assembly seat of Swan Hill was vacated by Stewart's move into Federal politics in 1919, Francis Edward Old (1875-1950), who farmed in Ultima and married there September 1904, was elected unopposed as the Victorian Farmers' Union member.

[35] Subsequently, federal politician Alexander Wilson augmented the success of the (later Wheat and Woolgrowers') Association, and retired to a farm he had purchased in 1952 in Ultima.

Ultima railway siding played a crucial role in receiving wheat, and silos were built in 1942, with a capacity of 1 million bushels in the 1950s.

In 2003, the Ultima Progress Association attempted to boost town numbers by offering 12 blocks of land for sale at $1, on the condition that buyers began building within 12 months.

[38] Enrolment has been declining,[39] and from 2021 to 2023 has numbered two students with one full-time teaching principal and one part-time classroom teacher, supported by weekly visits of a local Mobile Resource Centre.