Columnists - The Durango Herald

Rotary Park ‘upgrade’ and a new jungle gym?

Dear Action Line: What is up with the Rotary Park “upgrade”? It appears the parking lot was redesigned to hold FEWER and smaller vehicles than it used to. The new curved walkways probabl...

DATE: Apr 19, 2021 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Nicholas Kristof: Oregon loggers, environmentalists collaborate

JOHN DAY, Ore. — One of the most venomous battles in our polarized nation is the one that has unfolded between loggers and environmentalists in timber towns like John Day, in the snow-capped...

DATE: Apr 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Paul Krugman: America needs to empower workers again

Labor activists hoped that the unionization vote at Amazon’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse would be a turning point, a reversal in the decades-long trend of union decline. What the vote showed, ...

DATE: Apr 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

States pursue competing energy visions

Colorado and Wyoming are on rapidly diverging paths to distinctly different energy futures. Colorado’s Legislature next week will contemplate further greenhouse gas emissions red...

DATE: Apr 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Thinking Green

Dealing with stress when it crops up in the workplace

No matter what facet of our lives we examine, it would seem as though stress is unavoidable. Maybe we experience stress at home, maybe we experience it at work, and maybe we exper...

DATE: Apr 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local First

Steve Mandell: Western Slope Democrats shouldn’t assume GOP losses are their gains

Three recent events say a lot about where the 3rd Congressional District is heading: Republicans embarrass themselves and shed supporters. Changes in voter registration since the...

DATE: Apr 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Barbara McLachlan: Civics must be taught more thoroughly

If you watch enough national news, it’s easy to think that Democrats and Republicans rarely speak, always argue, refuse to compromise and have nothing in common. Fortunately, in C...

DATE: Apr 17, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Local libraries host virtual wilderness program

In celebration of Earth Day, Fort Lewis College professor Andrew Gulliford will present a virtual program, “Wilderness and America,” from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday on Zoom. In 1964, C...

DATE: Apr 16, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community Voices

Local residents grateful for vaccine

Thank you, Karen Zink, Anne Markward, Doug Walker, Charley Kier, Karen Midkiff and the 300 to 400 volunteers who saw the need and organized the COVID-19 vaccination program at the fairground...

DATE: Apr 16, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community Voices

Great Decisions Durango to hold seventh discussion

Great Decisions Durango will hold its seventh discussion at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday on Zoom. The topic will be “Struggles over the melting Arctic.” Moderator Guinn Unger will present ...

DATE: Apr 16, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community Voices

Durango Public Library Advisory Board accepting nominations

Durango Public Library Advisory Board will accept nominations for the 2021 Library Community Champion Award through June 4. Applications are available at Recognizing that the success of an...

DATE: Apr 16, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community Voices

Trail Crew Brew to launch Thursday

Durango Trails will hold its spring fundraiser and 30th anniversary event from noon to 6 p.m. Thursday at Ska Brewing, 225 Girard St. The Earth Day celebration will include the la...

DATE: Apr 16, 2021 | CATEGORY: Community Voices

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

Photos: Ride with the Champions bike parade

Photos: Changing colors

Photos: Fort Lewis College Volleyball sweeps Black Hills StateSkyhawks off to best start since 2006

Skyhawks off to best start since 2006

Photos: Durango High School football takes on Piedra Vista High SchoolDemons’ defense dominates in 17-0 victory on Friday night

Demons’ defense dominates in 17-0 victory on Friday night

Skyhawks beat Lubbock Christian 2-1 in season opener on Thursday

Photos: Four Corners Motorcycle RallyLots of motorcycles and tattoos were on display on Saturday

Lots of motorcycles and tattoos were on display on Saturday

Photos: Four Corners Motorcycle Rally Rodeo