I've read *Texas Monthly*'s piece proposing some soft explanation of what is a "farm" versus what is a "ranch" in Texas; and I am not persuaded.
I assert that:
"Farms" are agricultural tracts of land in East Texas, and "ranches" are such tracts but in West Texas. The dividing line is Hwy 281, although a case can be made for I-35 as the line. Agricultural tracts on which cattle are raised in East Texas are cattle farms, and such tracts in West Texas are ranches, based on Texas and Southern history and geography. To call a cattle farm in East Texas a ranch is just a pretense....