Columnists - The Durango Herald

Girlfriend ready to commit

DEAR ABBY: I’m in love with a man I met online. We have been together three years, and I want us to start talking about our future. He has never been married, but he has been in long-term re...

DATE: May 4, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Yesterday and Today: The Interactive Beatles Experience

Like them or not, it’s fair to say that you know at least something about The Beatles. You can say you aren’t a fan, but for those “non-fans” you likely know the names John, Paul, George and...

DATE: May 4, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Assessor’s office establishes valuations, not taxes

Greetings, fellow property owners of La Plata County. You’ve likely heard the value of real estate in Colorado has seen a substantial increase over the past two years. It’s true, values have...

DATE: May 3, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Wife incensed when secret revealed

DEAR ABBY: My son recently confided that his fiancee is pregnant with our first grandchild. He asked me not to share this information with my wife, his mother. He knew she would be upset bec...

DATE: May 2, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Play with your food!

Most of us grew up being told not to play with our food – that the meal was there to build strong bones or have us grow tall – no laughing matter. But did that take some of the joy out of th...

DATE: May 2, 2023 | CATEGORY: Nourishing Morsels

LPEA candidate Purser ‘does not have right to slander, make aspersions’

First, a disclaimer: I am an LPEA director representing District 3, which includes the city of Durango. This is my personal opinion; it does not reflect the opinion of other LPEA board membe...

DATE: May 1, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Intergovernmental cooperation means work on landfills, roads

Working for the State of Colorado helps me appreciate the importance of good government-to-government relations. We work with members of city councils, school boards, metro districts and tri...

DATE: May 1, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

The Power of Local

By Doug McCarthy, Healthcare Advocate, Local First I was recently asked what I love about La Plata County. In addition to the amazing outdoor recreation opportunities we enjoy, I am delighte...

DATE: Apr 30, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local First

Shocking revelation puts wedding in doubt

DEAR ABBY: My daughter and her fiance are intelligent, successful professionals in their early 30s. Her fiance just informed her he was a sperm donor for a friend and his wife a few years ag...

DATE: Apr 29, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

The High Hawks: A super group that’s not a super group

Fiddle player Tim Carbone does not like the term “super group.” Often used to describe a group of musicians who have joined forces as a band outside of their individual, solid and successful...

DATE: Apr 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Siblings take different approach to mom

DEAR ABBY: Our mom just turned 100, and she is in good health. I threw a big birthday celebration to honor this amazing woman. My brother and I were adopted as infants. She gave us a fabulou...

DATE: Apr 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Hike for your health

Now that the weather is warming up, so is the drive and desire to enjoy it. If you are working to drop those extra pounds, spring is the perfect time to get outside and move your body. What ...

DATE: Apr 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Strength in Well-being

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