Columnists - The Durango Herald

Get ‘doowopified’ with Doo Wop Project

The group The Doo Wop Project has contributed a new word to the English language: “Doowopified.” It was created by the New York City-based band, specifically its bass vocalist Dwayne Cooper,...

DATE: Mar 30, 2023 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Bill addresses poor math scores with train-the-trainer system

I am surprised as anyone else that as an English teacher, I am running a bill about the attributes of math and the necessity that students understand it. But that is exactly what’s happening...

DATE: Mar 29, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Support local for the planet

With the dramatic effects of climate change being felt right here at home, the health and well-being of the planet is top of mind for most. And for many, we are taking action. As individuals...

DATE: Mar 28, 2023 | CATEGORY: Columnists

SJBPH’s sexual health, cancer screening and immunizations clinics important resources in rural SouthwestColorado

Sexual health is an integral component of overall health and wellness across a lifespan. San Juan Basin Public Health’s clinic programs provide key services to help you make informed decisio...

DATE: Mar 28, 2023 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

The ins and outs of carbs

It’s true that to drop weight, decreasing carbohydrates will help you to be successful. However, this macronutrient is often misunderstood. It isn’t that carbohydrates are bad for you, but r...

DATE: Mar 28, 2023 | CATEGORY: Strength in Well-being

Woman’s frank talk concerns beau

DEAR ABBY: I’m a 50-year-old man who has been divorced twice. The last one was two years and eight months ago. Last year, I met a wonderful woman, and we have been dating and building a beau...

DATE: Mar 28, 2023 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

For deer sake, what’s town drivers’ best action?

Dear Action Line: At 17th Street and Main Avenue, the deer cross in the crosswalk. It looks like The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” – it’s cute. They're colorblind so I’ll give them a pass for no...

DATE: Mar 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Truth, facts: What the difference means for democracy

Who knew epistemology could get a standing ovation? Then again, when was the last time anyone left a play thinking that it should be required viewing in middle schools? Such was my response ...

DATE: Mar 26, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Illumination needed at 302 turn? Airport user thinks so

Dear Action Line: Farmington’s airport is not currently serviced by a commercial airline. Therefore, most northwest New Mexico citizens use the Durango-La Plata County Airport. This is O...

DATE: Mar 20, 2023 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Goodbye, best friends: Beer, tequila, wine

Beer introduced itself to me in high school and hitched a ride with me when I went away to college. We became sloppy roommates and our intimacy peaked over party kegs, a toilet bowl, and pin...

DATE: Mar 19, 2023 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Snow fatigue is reminder of mountain’s benefits

I stand on the edge of the wilderness as the late afternoon glow hits the peaks. Clouds hug the tops of the mountains, signaling the incoming storm. The wind is cold, and the snow blows acro...

DATE: Mar 17, 2023 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Housing solution must include path to homeownership

Much of the talk this year, particularly around the City Council election, has involved affordable housing. But there has been a curious shift in the language. The preferred term now seems t...

DATE: Mar 17, 2023 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

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