Columnists - The Durango Herald

Enter the backcountry with a plan for the unexpected

My first trip to Southwest Colorado, 20 odd years ago, became a pivotal moment in life. Many have had a similar experience because you too found this place and decided to call it home. Reaso...

DATE: Jul 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Red flags flying in daughter’s marriage

DEAR ABBY: I am afraid for my daughter. She has been married less than a year to a very controlling man. He doesn’t ask her to do anything, he demands that she do what he wants. She cann...

DATE: Jul 8, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Ely Cartwright: ‘Being an artist is a compulsion, I think’

Local musician Ely Cartwright is in the music-making business. But he’s not in the music “business.” He’s not tied into a contract that requires him to move musical units or sell tickets. H...

DATE: Jul 8, 2021 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Forest ambassador program shows positive impact on San Juan Mountains

As warm weather and a public eager to get outside returned to the San Juan Mountains this summer, forest ambassadors hit the trails representing San Juan Mountains Association and the San Ju...

DATE: Jul 7, 2021 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Man’s pics of young models devastate life

DEAR ABBY: I’m a woman in my early 60s. I have a husband I love very much and I enjoyed dressing sexy for him at the end of our date nights. However, I stumbled across some pictures of h...

DATE: Jul 6, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Our doors are open to new beginnings and to you

We are back. I mean, we never left, really. But like so many other businesses and offices, we took our extended break from doors being open, choosing to work remotely from our teenager’s roo...

DATE: Jul 5, 2021 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Is ‘systemic racism’ the right diagnosis?

“Your mind is like a parachute; it only works when it’s open,” my seventh-grade teacher counseled. That inspiration – and Mr. Rogers’ assurance that he liked me just the way I am – helped me...

DATE: Jul 3, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Declining birth rate is good news, not the worry reported

“U.S. birth rates are declining. This trend is cause for concern, because an aging population puts a strain on the economy.” – Kimberly Amadeo, in “The Balance,” April 29, 2021 The Centers ...

DATE: Jul 3, 2021 | CATEGORY: Population Matters

Summer events returning to Durango

Summer events are back and going strong. Here’s a rundown of three events to put on your calendar. First up is the Fourth of July this Sunday. Almost everything we normally do on the Fourth ...

DATE: Jul 3, 2021 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Woman can’t accept ex’s new girlfriend

DEAR ABBY: I’ve been divorced from my husband of 18 years for two years, separated for three. I have encouraged my ex to get out and meet new people. (He stayed home and alone for about ...

DATE: Jul 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Improving Community Health Beyond COVID-19

It has been a busy year and a half for public health to say the least. The community at large has learned a lot about the role of public health from our response to the pandemic. As San Juan...

DATE: Jul 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Wildlife managers should learn how to ‘love the bear’s world’

Last spring, at the height of some of the most anxiety-ridden moments of the pandemic, my father read a poem to me over the phone. He’s 89 this year, and while he’s vibrant and healthy, I do...

DATE: Jul 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

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