Columnists - The Durango Herald

Steens Mountain, Oregon: Buckaroos, Basques and glacial gorges

Way out west where ranchers’ mailboxes are 50-gallon drums set on their side, I drove northwest of Winnemucca on a straight-line course to Denio, Nevada. As I crossed into Oregon the only tr...

DATE: Nov 12, 2022 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Keep an eye out for Perseus

Greetings, stargazers. It feels great to be back on standard time and not have to leave the house before sunrise. I know some of you are not liking the early evening darkness, but I hope Co...

DATE: Nov 12, 2022 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Sonata, serenade, tango

Flute and harp recital tonight

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Culture Gulch

Mom fears for daughter entering workforce

DEAR ABBY: My daughter is about to turn 14 and wants to get a job. We just found out that in our state, 14- and 15-year-olds can work if they get a permit. I’m very concerned. I tried negoti...

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Capitol Comedy brings political satire

Satire is a great part of comedy. It was a great tool in the 1970s on “All in the Family,” and it’s heavy in “South Park” and “Family Guy.” Unless it flies right over your head, which it lik...

DATE: Nov 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Death and the Quality of Life Impact Study

A very old man I knew took his own life this past spring. I only met him once, and emailed with him several times after that, but he had quite an impact on me in that very short time. We tal...

DATE: Nov 9, 2022 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

La Plata commissioners share plans for ARPA funds

Far too many in La Plata County are still feeling the impacts from COVID-19 that will last far beyond the actual public health emergency. To address those impacts, in 2020, Congress allocate...

DATE: Nov 9, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Custom still best way to say ‘thanks’

DEAR ABBY: I was taught to write handwritten thank-you notes when I received a gift. Over the last few years, my gifts have been acknowledged with a brief text, Facebook post, a photo or not...

DATE: Nov 8, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Insulin resistance: Should you be paying attention?

Should you be paying attention to insulin resistance? If you’re prone to diabetes or weight gain, the answer is “yes,” and nourishing your insulin (and making it more sensitive) is something...

DATE: Nov 8, 2022 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Yes, roundabout: Time to get used to going in circles

Dear Action Line: After you exit the new Maverik gas station in Three Springs on the truck (southwest) side, you encounter two branching arrows on the pavement before the roundabout. O...

DATE: Nov 7, 2022 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Make your voice heard

Voting is an important part of our country and government. It’s an opportunity to engage in helping determine the future of our county, region, state and nation, and it significantly impacts...

DATE: Nov 5, 2022 | CATEGORY: From the Chamber

Better worlds start with great families and great families start with Nurse-Family Partnership

Becoming a new parent can be exciting, scary, challenging, rewarding and much more. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the support of a free personal nurse during pregnancy and after your baby arri...

DATE: Nov 5, 2022 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

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