Ranchers maintain lifestyle as Summit County grows, changes

Colby Pace has the rare privilege of spending his days doing what he loves. A typical day for Pace starts around 4:30 a.m. and doesn't end until 10 p.m. Pace rises with the sun for nearly two months each year and he has maintained the same schedule since he was 17. The 40-year-old, third-generation rancher inherited his grandfather's ranch in Coalville as a junior in high school. "I started with 10 cows and we have built to 600," Pace said. "It took me 20 years to build this, but it has paid off." Pace owns and operates Half Circle Cross Ranch in Chalk Creek. He owns approximately 5,000 acres and operates nearly 18,000 more. He employs two full-time employees year-round and three part-time employees in the summer. Pace, like other cattle ranchers in Summit County, faces a host of challenges and outside pressures in the ever-evolving industry in a climate that tends to favor cattle ranching over dairy farming. From governmental encroachment and economic pressure from developers to rapidly developing technology, ranchers are constantly searching for ways to adapt and maintain the lifestyle that they love. Every day during the summer months, Pace makes the rounds with his two boys, 13 and 8, grooming them for a new age of ranching...more