Columnists - The Durango Herald

Uncovering La Plata County’s election non-conspiracy

Dear Action Line: Question about voting: I recently changed my affiliation while the spouse retained his already unaffiliated status. I inadvertently checked a box where I only get the R...

DATE: Jul 4, 2022 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Local immigrants, ICE, our collective future converge

“Papeles!” the tall man with baggy eyes and a black Carhartt sweatshirt demanded through a small opening in the glass door. Frightened, the young woman, who I’ll refer to as Diana, rushed ba...

DATE: Jul 4, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Get the most from the rain when it falls

It really is quite amazing. Toward the middle of last month, I was proactively writing this article about the severe drought conditions we were facing. And while it is amazing that I was act...

DATE: Jul 4, 2022 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

‘No to regular hunting season’ for wolves

Within a year, wolves will be restored to their rightful place in Colorado ecosystems. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has long touted the importance of our wildlife heritage to residents and vi...

DATE: Jul 3, 2022 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Creede Repertory Theatre mounts engaging season

When Emily Van Fleet walks on stage as Patsy Cline, the sign above her quickly flips from Creede Opera House to Grand Ole Opry. It’s a nice tribute to Creede’s illustrious 57-year history pe...

DATE: Jul 2, 2022 | CATEGORY: Art Seen

Young mom careening through stressful life

DEAR ABBY: My stepdaughter, “Crystal,” has a toxic relationship with her mother. Both have battled alcoholism. The mother did some extreme damage that has ended the possibility of Crystal re...

DATE: Jul 1, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Celebrate the 4th of July in downtown Durango

It’s the 4th of July, and there is no better place to celebrate than Durango. This year, there is a whole weekend of activities to enjoy in downtown Durango. Tonight, (July 2) at the Transit...

DATE: Jul 1, 2022 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

WIC program helps connect families with healthy food options

The Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, program administered by San Juan Basin Public Health is not just about food and formula, nutrition education and breastfeeding support – although tha...

DATE: Jul 1, 2022 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Hooked on no hook

A fly fishing experiment with the hooks cut off

DATE: Jul 1, 2022 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

Mom unsupportive of transitioning teen

DEAR ABBY: I am a 19-year-old trans man. I told my mother years ago, and while she hasn’t stopped me from transitioning, she’s wholly unsupportive. Despite telling her my new name and pronou...

DATE: Jun 30, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Rocky Mountain UkeFest to be held next week

Denise Leslie loves the ukulele. She loves its size and its tone. She loves its simplicity and the fact it’s an instrument where progress can be made by its player rather quickly. She loves ...

DATE: Jun 30, 2022 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Violence victim wrestles with impact

DEAR ABBY: Many years ago, I was the victim of a violent assault that my then-11-year-old daughter witnessed. It traumatized both of us, but me, the worst. I completely dove off the deep end...

DATE: Jun 28, 2022 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

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