Columnists - The Durango Herald

Ring in new year with Nu Bass Theory

It’s not electronic music. Although there are elements that pull from the EDM genre, the band and musical project of Nu Bass Theory is not your typical DJ outfit where there’s a dude behind ...

DATE: Dec 29, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

New bills address math scores, lead, water literacy and more

As I head into my final two years as your House District 59 representative, I eagerly anticipate the work ahead. Colorado law permits every legislator to present five bills in a committee ea...

DATE: Dec 28, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Woman prefers thrill of the hunt

DEAR ABBY: I am a woman in my late 30s. I have had a few failed relationships and a marriage that ended in divorce. At one point, I juggled three lovers at a time. I like being in a committe...

DATE: Dec 27, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Lower suicide rates? Look at immigrants

First-generation immigrants from Latin America report some of the lowest levels of suicide in the nation, and this despite living with constant anxiety due to compromised legal statuses, wor...

DATE: Dec 25, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

New year holds promise of new start

Perhaps like me you see the end of the year as a time for reflection – an opportunity to assess what has recently passed and the lessons that have been learned. I find it is a time also to b...

DATE: Dec 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Grocery store in Three Springs? Yes, no and maybe

Dear Action Line: I recently heard that the proposed Farmers Fresh Market that was to be built just south of the Morehart Murphy Subaru dealership had been canceled. As residents of the ...

DATE: Dec 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: Action Line

What’s the best way to stay in touch?

DEAR ABBY: I have a much younger friend in another state, and we like to keep in touch. I prefer email, as I’m elderly, hard of hearing and look after my husband, who is having cognitive pro...

DATE: Dec 24, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Student plans for future with beau

DEAR ABBY: I am a senior in high school in a long-distance relationship. My boyfriend, “Grant,” and I live two states apart and have visited each other several times. He’s four years older t...

DATE: Dec 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Best albums of 2022: 5 to 1

Indie record labels are the mom-and-pop stores of the music business. Ditch the chains and look for the homegrown place, as the indie labels are what keeps the music business interesting, of...

DATE: Dec 22, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

New developments must pay more for water

La Plata County is anticipating a 50% population increase by 2050. Fifty percent! Durango’s 2021 Water System Master Plan contains an extensive analysis of the costs of enlarging the local w...

DATE: Dec 21, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Alcohol and weight loss?

With the holidays upon us and the good cheer flowing, I thought it would be a nice opportunity to talk about one of our favorite food groups this winter season, alcohol! I often get asked i...

DATE: Dec 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Strength in Well-being

Carbohydrates – how much do you need?

Your age, level of physical activity, muscle mass, medical history and lifestyle preferences should all play a role in determining your carbohydrate level. If you have more muscle mass, you ...

DATE: Dec 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

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