Columnists - The Durango Herald

Romance with inmate gets complicated

DEAR ABBY: I am a 42-year-old mother of three who has been in a relationship with a man for almost six years. He is incarcerated. We started out as friends. Things were great until this year...

DATE: Nov 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

When you’re ready to adopt, think local first

This time of year, we are all reminded about the importance of shopping locally. Today, I’d like to remind you it is just as important to adopt shelter pets locally. Local animal welfare or...

DATE: Nov 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

Shop Local for the Holidays

It’s that time of year again; inboxes piling up with discount codes, promotional flyers on our doorsteps, commercials highlighting the latest gadgets we never thought we’d need (and maybe st...

DATE: Nov 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local First

Congress should follow Colorado’s example, protect immigrants

With the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act finally signed into law and the Build Back Better Act passed in the U.S. House, Congress must continue working for the American people and sup...

DATE: Nov 26, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Playing with Skunks stays independent

Local rock band Playing with Skunks are a DIY – do it yourself – band in every sense of the term. They’ve never booked studio and engineer time at Scooter’s Place or with Doug Eagle, instea...

DATE: Nov 25, 2021 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Action is necessary to address EMS workforce shortage

The nation’s emergency medical services system is facing a crippling workforce shortage, a long-term problem that has been building for more than a decade. It threatens to undermine our emer...

DATE: Nov 25, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Medication puts damper on love life

DEAR ABBY: I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression for decades, but I’m finally on a medication that works for me. I’m in my 40s and feel emotionally stable for the first time in my adult lif...

DATE: Nov 23, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Could Smelter Mountain be the next Krakatoa?

Dear Action Line: I was hiking the Animas River Trail, just north of Nature’s Oasis, and came across a mysterious outcropping of rocks. The rocks look like they are volcanic, such as a l...

DATE: Nov 22, 2021 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Political balance, unaffiliated members key to redistricting commission’s success

As a lifelong unaffiliated voter, the chance to participate in an inherently political process on an equal footing with affiliated voters was very appealing. I was thrilled to be the first ...

DATE: Nov 21, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Downtown Durango kicks off the holidays

The Durango Business Improvement District and businesses in the heart of Durango have geared up for the busy holiday season. Here is a rundown of several events and promotions. The holidays ...

DATE: Nov 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Land near Chaco Canyon receives protections

This week the Biden administration took action to safeguard lands surrounding Chaco Canyon from impacts associated with encroaching oil and gas extraction. The Department of Interior announ...

DATE: Nov 20, 2021 | CATEGORY: Thinking Green

Why a managed camp for the unhoused might be right for Durango

While homelessness is a controversial topic, few would argue that addressing it is not a straightforward matter. Rather, it is a complex and multifaceted issue that demands a spectrum of sol...

DATE: Nov 19, 2021 | 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