Achmed Aziz (Panda Likoudis), an Iraqi agronomist, arrives on a study tour and Kate (Rachel Ward) fears he will submit a report on the condition of the local sheep.

Having rebuffed Jill's attempts to empathise with her, Kate then forces her to co-operate with a plan to cover up the sheep problem until the drought breaks, after which it will be irrelevant. Jill is morally and professionally challenged by this, but then finds herself defending Kate to James Campbell, a vet in a nearby town who has designs on Kate's practice (and Jill's body).

Meanwhile, Achmed meets diverse characters such as the mysterious Larry Riley, a wealthy man with no known source of income, and Harry Greene (Shane Withington), the ultimate pragmatist, known locally as the Grim Reaper for his blithe exploitation of others' misfortune.

After the sale of the Huppatz farm for a knock-down price reignites a feud between Tom Huppatz (Tom O'Sullivan) and local bigwig Lachlan Balfour (Kim Knuckey), Kate is furious when she discovers Jill, unable to suppress her personal and professional curiosity, has conducted laboratory tests on the diseased sheep.