Water on land

A tract can have surface water, a well, or neither. Cattle on the tract drink. Cattle in a corral or a feedlot are on hay, and this bar is about the ground.

Surface water

Surface water is measured in acre-feet. If the tract has any, the herd is watered and the land pays a production bonus: the same cattle produce 15 percent more than they would on dry ground. That water is also part of the asking price. It adds 14,000 TOUGH when you buy the tract.

A well

A dry tract can be drilled. A well costs 12,000 TOUGH. It gives the herd stock water. It does not give the 15 percent production bonus, and it does not irrigate. Irrigation is a later water right.

A dry tract

With no surface water and no well, each animal has a water bar from 0 to 100. It falls at the same pace as that animal's health decay. One Water Token restores 10 points. Tokens are 4 TOUGH each in the Mercantile. At zero, the animal takes one degrade point, then one more for every full day the bar stays empty. Degrade cuts weaning weight and the meat check, so a dry tract is a decision, not a free pasture.