Columnists - The Durango Herald

Colleague’s cancer fight waged in different manner

DEAR ABBY: My husband was diagnosed with advanced chronic leukemia seven years ago. After two rounds of chemo, he was better for a while but was diagnosed with advanced multiple myeloma a ye...

DATE: Sep 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

iAM MUSIC Fest features Ramakhandra

Members of Denver-based band Ramakhandra all knew they had to make music with each other seconds after they met. They’re also a band that came together on the fly, and almost never could ha...

DATE: Sep 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

La Plata County 4-H members earn awards at Colorado State Fair

The La Plata County 4-H year is officially wrapping up, and what a wonderful year it has been. Our La Plata County Fair was a huge success – full of fun and excitement. Our 4-H members were ...

DATE: Sep 15, 2022 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Middle schooler finds it hard to make new friends

DEAR ABBY: My daughter is in eighth grade at a small private school. The problem is, she doesn’t have any friends there. Away from school she makes friends easily. But around classmates she ...

DATE: Sep 13, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Man finds lost family, still feels unwanted

DEAR ABBY: I was adopted at 6 weeks old. My parents adopted my sister two years later. They weren’t very good parents – not abusive, but with no understanding of how to treat children. Ten y...

DATE: Sep 13, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Leaf-peeping takes on new meaning

Dear Action Line: Yes, we all enjoy the greenery in and around Durango, and especially how all the plants have surged with summer rains. But too much of a good thing, even a green thing,...

DATE: Sep 12, 2022 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Driving the Loneliest Road in America

A trip across the vast expanse of the Great Basin

DATE: Sep 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

‘Delivering on what matters most’

Southwest Colorado embodies the freedom, natural beauty and pioneering spirit that our state is known for. As governor, I am focused on protecting our way of life, lowering the cost of livin...

DATE: Sep 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Will be a governor for all’

I am a mom on a mission to make sure every Colorado child has access to the same American Dream I have lived. Unfortunately, that dream is slipping away, and Colorado is becoming the most da...

DATE: Sep 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

The difference between a tropical year and a sidereal year

Greetings, stargazers. The autumnal equinox this year is at 7:03 p.m. Sept. 22. We typically think of the first day of fall as something that happens all day long, but the equinox is the tim...

DATE: Sep 10, 2022 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

Laying the groundwork to protect hidden gems in the West End

With Moab two hours to the northwest, Telluride an hour to the southeast and Durango several hours farther south, the West End is easily accessible to many recreationists seeking new terrain...

DATE: Sep 9, 2022 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

NFL team ownership ‘a can’t-miss business venture’

The recent sale of the Denver Broncos is unique for several reasons. It is a record $4.65 billion transaction. The former record sale was for the New York Mets in 2020 at a price of $2.4 bil...

DATE: Sep 9, 2022 | 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