TX: Difference between Ranch Road and Farm Road

[N9JIG]

I drove thru the Texas Panhandle on US-54 yesterday and noticed that 3296 southwest of Dalhart is marked as a Ranch Road (see https://goo.gl/maps/VZrJYLSbxeB2 for a sign pic). All other state secondaries along the Texas Panhandle section of US-54 were marked as Farm Roads.

The question is: Is there a difference other than the name?
Does this indicate that road actually serves a ranch rather than farms?
Is it more of a preference rather than a set of rules?

[kphoger]

They are legally the same class of roads, and the difference is only in name. In some parts of Texas, FM is more common, in others RM more common, depending on the prevalence of farms or ranches. Technically, Urban Roads are different from both FM and RM, but they are rarely signed in the field as such; these are roads that formerly were Farm-to-Market or Ranch-to-Market but where urbanization has taken over the farm- or ranch-land.

[texaskdog]

It's no exact science.  RR 2222 goes through Austin and there probably is not a ranch on it.

[Sykotyk]

It's the 'secondary state highway' and the way Texas refers to them. What can be confusing is the signs calling them "Farm Road 2222" but the other signs and terminology calls it "FM 2222". There is no "M" word on the sign, and the R or Rd is completely vacant from the terminology.

[corco]

There is one and only one RR (Ranch Road) that is exclusive of the RMs (Ranch-to-Market) and FMs (Farm-to-Market) though - the one that goes to LBJ's house. It's separate from the FM/RM systems, which don't duplicate numbers across the two designations (e.g. if there is an FM 1578, there is no RM 1578). There is an RR 1 and an FM 1, though.

[N9JIG]

So if I have this right; The signs say Ranch Road (like the one in the pic I linked to) but they are actually Ranch to Market and referred to as RM, except for the one to LBJ's ranch which really is RR-1, not RM-1.

Farm to Market roads are the partner roads, and are marked as Farm Road but referred to as FM.

Except for RR-1/RM-1 (There is a RM-1 I presume) there is no duplication of the numbers between the FM and RM series and the choice between them is pretty much arbitrary.

Is this pretty much the jist of it?

[Road Hog]

There's a map out there that shows the FMs and RMs in different colors. I saw it posted on here once before. Basically most secondary roads east of US 281 are FMs and the ones west of it are RMs. Not too many farms in West Texas unless you're a cactus farmer.

[Chris]

The theory was that I-35 divides Texas into Ranch Roads (west) and Farm Roads (east). However in reality most such roads are Farm Roads west of I-35 as well.

[US71]

The theory was that I-35 divides Texas into Ranch Roads (west) and Farm Roads (east). However in reality most such roads are Farm Roads west of I-35 as well.

\
Then you have Recreation Roads like 255

[texaskdog]

and loops, OSR, Nasa....

[kurumi]

The conspicuous hole in the green area is Dallas, with a grand total of 2 FM roads: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Farm_to_Market_Roads_in_North_Texas

[US 81]

I have heard that at different times both US 281 and I-35 were the dividing line, based loosely upon the geography - coastal plains meets Balcones uplift.

[kphoger]

It's no exact science.  RR 2222 goes through Austin and there probably is not a ranch on it.

RM-2222 originally did not enter the Austin city limits. Also, its official designation has changed from RM-2222 (Ranch-to-Market 2222) to UR-2222 (Urban Road 2222), but Texas quickly aborted their plan of signing URs differently, which is why the signs still say Ranch Road (reassurance) or RM (guide). The change in designation from RM to UR affects its eligibility for state funds in certain scenarios.

[kphoger]

So if I have this right; The signs say Ranch Road (like the one in the pic I linked to) but they are actually Ranch to Market and referred to as RM, except for the one to LBJ's ranch which really is RR-1, not RM-1.

Farm to Market roads are the partner roads, and are marked as Farm Road but referred to as FM.

Except for RR-1/RM-1 (There is a RM-1 I presume) there is no duplication of the numbers between the FM and RM series and the choice between them is pretty much arbitrary.

Is this pretty much the jist of it?

Yep. Secondary state highways in Texas are one of the following:

Farm-to-Market Roads, abbreviated to Farm Road on reassurance markers, abbreviated to FM on BGSes and written addresses; this is by far the more common designation.

Ranch-to-Market Roads, abbreviated to Ranch Road on reassurance markers, abbreviated to RM on BGSes and written addresses; these are the same thing as Farm-to Market Roads, but the name is different due to their primarily serving ranches rather than farms.

In locations where farm or ranch land has become urbanized to the point that the road is no longer agricultural in function, Texas can change the designation from Farm-to-Market Road or Ranch-to-Market Road to Urban Road. I think the state changed some shields in the beginning, but it was quickly unpopular and so it stopped doing so right away; the change only happens on paper now. For the most part, nothing actually changes, but if the highway is to be expanded, then the project will not receive state funds (because, it being an urban road, it should receive that finding from the city it's part of).

Loop routes generally connect two roads that are primary state or higher-level highways. Spur routes generally only have a primary highway at one end, the other end being a secondary state highway or lower-level road. There are surely exceptions, but that's the general rule.

[aboges26]

There's a map out there that shows the FMs and RMs in different colors. I saw it posted on here once before. Basically most secondary roads east of US 281 are FMs and the ones west of it are RMs. Not too many farms in West Texas unless you're a cactus farmer.

Whoa whoa whoa buddy, granted I have a bunch of cactus and like to think of myself as a cactus farmer, I am surrounded by cotton fields out here in west Texas.  There are much more farms than ranches out here on the Llano Estacado, which is why I only ever encounter FMs out here.

[wxfree]

I've looked through old minute orders trying to find an explanation of the difference.  So far I've found no description of the establishment of the secondary system or any other explanation.

It may be helpful to look for patterns and hope they show an explanation.  In RM country, FMs tend to be along the Rio Grande or Pecos, possibly due to those areas being less inhospitable to farming, or short roads.  Alpine and Marfa each has a FM accessing a part of town (a residential area or park) - not ranches.  Dell City has FMs and is a farming community (using irrigation).  Van Horn has FMs and also has irrigated farming circles along them.  Another cluster of FMs around Pecos, Saragosa, Coyanosa, and Fort Stockton also has farming circles.

Just glancing at the Amarillo area, the RMs seem to line up pretty well with areas devoid of farming that's easily seen in satellite images.  The Lubbock area has FMs, and it's actually quite "farmy."  Even though it isn't a rainy area, the flat land causes water to soak into the ground instead of running off.  That water can be pumped out and used for irrigation.

My proposed explanation is rather boring.  It seems that the road type actually kinda represents the type of agriculture in that area.  The Hill Country, Stockton Plateau, and far west Texas (the ranching areas) seem to use RM except for farm areas.  There are, of course no definite boundaries and at some point someone just had to draw a line around the RM area.  It's interesting how that line goes right through Austin.  Within that area, the exceptions are usually pretty obvious results of the farms.  Outside of that area, FM is standard.  I have no explanation for the exceptions there, except that RMs are established based on some specific preference, perhaps as a novelty.

[kphoger]

There's a map out there that shows the FMs and RMs in different colors. I saw it posted on here once before. Basically most secondary roads east of US 281 are FMs and the ones west of it are RMs. Not too many farms in West Texas unless you're a cactus farmer.

Whoa whoa whoa buddy, granted I have a bunch of cactus and like to think of myself as a cactus farmer, I am surrounded by cotton fields out here in west Texas.  There are much more farms than ranches out here on the Llano Estacado, which is why I only ever encounter FMs out here.

Not too far away from you, they should change some others to OM (Oil-to-Market) routes.

[mwb1848]

Interestingly, RM 1111 in Hudspeth County began its life in 1948 as a Farm-to-Market Road but was re-designated as a Ranch-to-Market Road in 1957.

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/RM/RM1111.htm

[NE2]

I've looked through old minute orders trying to find an explanation of the difference.  So far I've found no description of the establishment of the secondary system or any other explanation.

I believe they originated from special federal farm-to-market funding.

WHEREAS, in SABINE COUNTY, the Department previously constructed as a Federal Farm-to-Market Project an asphalt surfaced road from US #96 to Pineland and thence to Magasco, and Sabine County, through its official representative, now states that it is unable to properly maintain this road:
THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that a farm-to-market designation be made from US #96 to Pineland and thence to Magasco, and that this road be taken over for maintenance. An appropriation of $840.00 is hereby made to place the road in shape for maintenance and maintain same for the balance of the present fiscal year.

[Scott5114]

^That would explain why Oklahoma had some FM roads shown on its state map at one time (1940s and 50s if memory serves). But they never numbered them. Some of them were later incorporated into the state system, others weren't.

[The Ghostbuster]

I just thought of a really bad joke.

Q: What is the difference between Ranch Road and Farm Road?
A: One leads to a ranch, and the other leads to a farm.

[mwb1848]

As is the case for most things Texas, Paul Burka from Texas Monthly provides a wistful, yet informed (if not definitive) primer on Farm-to-Market Roads:

http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/texas-primer-the-farm-to-market-road/

[SquonkHunter]

As is the case for most things Texas, Paul Burka from Texas Monthly provides a wistful, yet informed (if not definitive) primer on Farm-to-Market Roads:

http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/texas-primer-the-farm-to-market-road/

The FM road conquered at last the vastness and deep isolation of rural Texas. It was conceived as a way to keep people on the farm; instead it brought them to the cities. Farmers sent their crops and then their children down the FM road...

My family lived this. Both of my Grandfathers turned to building the new Farm to Market system in the early 1950s to avoid losing their farms to the Great Drought of the 1950s. In the mid-1950s, my parents followed those same new Farm Roads to Dallas in a quest to make a new life for themselves (and later, me) that did not depend on farming. I even worked some on their construction in the early to mid 1970s. They provided the means of saving the family farms at the time and then later led to their ultimate demise. 

[empirestate]

The farm-to-market road concept is, of course, not unique to Texas. There are a handful of roads around New York, for example, whose proper name is "Farm To Market Road". But they're isolated cases, nothing resembling a numbered system like Texas'.

[Brian556]

The first FM road was built in 1936. They should be thought of simply as secondary state highways. That's it. Texas created a dilemma for itself by giving them an agricultural name. Other states in my opinion used better judgment by not doing that.

As far as loops go, they can be a partial or complete loop around a city, or the designation can be used in place of a BUSINESS XXX designation of an old alignment through then center of a city