Columnists - The Durango Herald

Homeownership: ‘We feel like our dreams are slipping away’

Roberta Villalobos and her husband, whose real names I’m concealing for questions of privacy, began looking for a house to buy in Durango over two years ago. But so far, they’ve struck out. ...

DATE: Aug 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Time to rethink impact of constant growth’

Tune to any news channel and you’re bound to hear the question: Is the United States in a recession? Two consecutive quarters of a negative gross domestic product is, by definition, a recess...

DATE: Aug 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Climate legislation is unprecedented in scope

This past week Congress passed sweeping legislation that takes a serious swipe at attacking the root causes of climate change. The Inflation Reduction Act aims to cut carbon emissions by mo...

DATE: Aug 20, 2022 | CATEGORY: Thinking Green

Why are there so many shelter dogs?

If you’re at all tuned into the news you’ve probably heard that animal shelters are overflowing across the country. Every shelter, rescue and foster facility is at capacity and taking in mor...

DATE: Aug 19, 2022 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

Getting back to the basics

As the summer winds down and schools start up again, we’re reminded that it’s time to get back to the basics. The pandemic and the resulting aftermath of inflation, labor shortages and suppl...

DATE: Aug 19, 2022 | CATEGORY: From the Chamber

Man’s controlling behavior still dominates ex

DEAR ABBY: I was married for almost 20 years to a jealous, controlling man. “Pete” was emotionally abusive, which I didn’t really notice because I’m not confrontational. I would just try to ...

DATE: Aug 19, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Girlfriend unimpressed by friends

DEAR ABBY: My boyfriend has been hanging out with a group of “friends” since college. He is now 41. The women in this group are unfriendly toward me. They don't say hello or goodbye or even ...

DATE: Aug 19, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Online friendship staring to wear thin

DEAR ABBY: I made a friend six years ago on social media. We have never actually met in person, but we have stayed in touch. She began contacting me on a daily basis about a year ago, which ...

DATE: Aug 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Ex asks for a little cuddling

DEAR ABBY: I have been separated from my husband for a year and a half. The divorce became final five months ago. He had major mood swings, and was nice one minute and hateful the next. We h...

DATE: Aug 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Let’s talk about invisible disabilities

An invisible disability is not a Marvel Universe superhero power, although many people with invisible disabilities feel pretty unseen by the rest of the population. It is a term used to desc...

DATE: Aug 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Jerusafunk headlines iAM MUSIC Fest

If you had to classify the band Jerusafunk, you’d do so under the genre of, well, funk. It is in their name. But give the band a listen and you’ll hear much more – anything from klezmer to A...

DATE: Aug 18, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

‘We need to build more, not tax more’

With bipartisan support for the $750 Taxpayer Bill of Rights refund checks that are hitting mailboxes this month, you would think that liberal special interests would back off their push to ...

DATE: Aug 17, 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