Dunkeld farm manager Jack Kennedy keeps to the plan in managing sheep disease

At the base of the southern Grampians, undulating hills meant Mount Sturgeon farm manager Jack Kennedy, Dunkeld, has been mostly lucky.

But that did not mean he avoided his fair share of issues during the big wet.

Mr Kennedy said lambs were "standing in five inches of water" at a time and the inability to be able to move the sheep due to stock crossings being underwater took its toll.

"I haven't actually checked but [the stock crossings] are probably washed away to be honest," he said.

"It was just a really hectic time then with the relentless rain and there was also a mental toll there from walking around in mud all day."

In the immediate short term, he said he was "hyper aware" of health issues that could crop up after the floods.

"[I'm] probably a little bit disappointed with my lamb marking rates, just purely because we lambed down during that first week of rain," he said.

"I was unlucky and you can just do the best with what you're given, so that meant looking after our ewes and lambs really well since lambing."

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Coopers Animal Health veterinarian and technical advisor Jim Walsh said sheep producers could not afford to be complacent when managing bacteria like Campylobacter.

"[Campylobacter] is actually very common, and it probably becomes an issue when there are stress events going on to a pregnant animal," he said.

"Stress can reduce the immune system, [and] the bacteria can take the opportunity to cause a problem in your sheep.

"So you could say that any climatic conditions, whether it's drought or extreme wet, will cause that stress that therefore makes the bacteria more of a chance to cause an issue."

While Dr Walsh said it was still a little too early to tell the extent of the bacteria in flocks, farmers needed to vaccinate prior to or early in their joining periods.

He also said over the last five to 10 years there was a growing awareness from farmers in utilising technology in managing sheep pregnancies, which in turn meant more risk assessments.

It has meant better decisions and targeted tactics for sheep who are a high risk for infections, with worm burdens being a major challenge right now.

"We've had a lot of carryover worm burden from the winter... so that's going to be a major issue for production and this coming joining," he said.

"It'll be about understanding that pasture quality might not be quite as good as it looks, because with wet weather, feed quality will go off."

Dr Walsh said farmers should have a "big picture" mindset, but also needed to focus on sheep that were more susceptible to infection.

"When I talk to farmers, I say the high-risk groups of sheep that farmers really need to think about protecting is young sheep because they're quite nave," he said

"In terms of immune systems, they haven't had a chance to be exposed to certain bugs before... so vaccination is critical in those situations.

"The other group that's often at risk are ewes that are in containment feeding because there's a lot of exposure going on to bacteria like Campylobacter, as well as stress from being contained reducing the immune system."

Mr Kennedy said his main concern over the past month had to do with his sheep's feet.

"We've really been focusing on our breeding to make sure they've got nice, open toes and to just stop those foot problems that you can get with this type of wet," he said.

While there were some unavoidable foot problems, he said an increased amount of foot bathing over the past few weeks had paid off, and flystrike issues had been avoided so far.

A detailed 12-month plan that includes jetting, keeping track of worm burdens, speaking with veterinarians and taking a worm egg count will also keep his animals on track.

"About 99 per cent of the ewes here are in great condition now," he said.

"They've been weaned and they're just on the grass when there is sun, so there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.

"I think the saying goes, 'no plan survives first contact with the enemy', and while we have changed our plan heavily this year, we try to stick with core ideals to help us make sure our animals are in a good state."