Columnists - The Durango Herald

‘Importance of securing a source with absolute best water quality’

The unsung heroes of Colorado’s water sectors are the local public water providers. At the turn of the century, our town mothers and fathers repeatedly made strategic and visionary decisions...

DATE: Mar 31, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Poetry takes only a mind looking for answers’

Poetry is first and foremost a connection between oneself and their world. Poetry, now more than ever, is incredibly important. It is vital to our understanding of our existence. When I read...

DATE: Mar 31, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Overlooked truth about Biden’s age: ‘Team matters much more’

In terms of optics and in terms of energy, I wish President Joe Biden were younger. There’s no point in pretending otherwise. And from the casual conversations all around me and the formal p...

DATE: Mar 31, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Daughter feels abandoned by father

DEAR ABBY: I’m a millennial. I am successful in my career and lucky to have a loving husband and two amazing children. I am, however, trying to remind myself to be “better and not bitter” in...

DATE: Mar 30, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Relationship with friend a one-way street

DEAR ABBY: I have a friend who talks nonstop. Honestly, I can put the phone down and go make a cup of tea, and she’ll still be talking when I get back. I don’t think she even takes a breath....

DATE: Mar 30, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Being a localist means fighting for fairness

The localist movement grew from a recognition that a globalist economy dominated by large multinational corporations does not always benefit consumers and our communities. Weak antitrust enf...

DATE: Mar 29, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local First

Engaging our students to fill workforce pipeline

With spring break behind us, I am reminded that summertime is when school is out, and high school and college students are looking to gain experience. Coincidently, when I ask local business...

DATE: Mar 29, 2024 | CATEGORY: From the Chamber

Super Bowl ‘ad failed to capture’ foot-washing, Holy Week message

During the Super Bowl last month, a Christian organization ponied up millions of dollars for a commercial that confused more people than it inspired. That is too bad, during this Holy Week, ...

DATE: Mar 29, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Durango Celtic Festival draws international musicians

Ask a few select Celtic musicians if they would travel 4,500 miles from home to play a concert in Durango, and their answer is a solid “yes.” One such musician is Paddy Callaghan, a button a...

DATE: Mar 28, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Veganism has become a third party in marriage

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been teachers since 1999. We married in 2011. She became vegan in 2017. It helped her beat diabetes, which I love. However, she’s pure vegan for animal rights a...

DATE: Mar 28, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

April is the month to celebrate local libraries

It’s difficult to miss the articles, blogs and news reports describing the problems too much screen time can create for a child’s cognitive development. But you might be surprised to find ou...

DATE: Mar 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Shelf Life

Bears Ears’ ‘integrity matters less than political gamesmanship’

Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument rarely leaves the news. The political tussle over this stunning expanse of red rock canyons exemplifies all the cultural dissonance in the rural West. Thr...

DATE: Mar 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s