Columnists - The Durango Herald

Sen. Don Coram: The only certainty for 2021 is uncertainty

As I begin my 11th year in the Colorado General Assembly and look forward to 2021, I wonder what to expect. After 2020, the only thing certain is uncertainty. Last year started o...

DATE: Jan 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Rep. Barbara McLachlan: Personal joy is tempered by suffering of many Coloradans

Our holiday this year made me realize, again, how lucky I am. Our children quarantined for two weeks before visiting and we all had many delicious meals and hearty laughs together...

DATE: Jan 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Woman hurt being kept at arm’s length

Dear Abby: I have spent years trying to have a close relationship with my older sister, but it is clearly not a priority for her. We are very different people, but I was hoping our share...

DATE: Jan 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Gumbo, Dixie Beer and Redfish

If you are familiar with the south, you know from the title I was in Louisiana. Louisiana, similar to other Gulf Coast states, is known for many things. But I think the gumbo, beer and redfi...

DATE: Jan 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

Letter: Media, progressives are to blame for rift in America

Journalists in the national media simply refuse to ask President-elect Joe Biden tough questions regarding taxes, guns or his dealings in China via his son Hunter. Papers, including the Hera...

DATE: Jan 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Writer on the Range: When water dries up, it can be deadly

In Oregon, the Klamath Basin wildlife refuges have fallen into their winter silence now. The huge, clamorous flocks of geese that fill the sky during migration have moved south. ...

DATE: Jan 1, 2021 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

New start brings hope for better days

Dear Readers: Welcome to 2021! The new year has arrived, and most of us are beyond grateful to leave the last one behind. The worldwide pandemic has sadly touched all of our lives. But t...

DATE: Dec 31, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Mark Lavengood joins Sidecar Concert Series this weekend

The national bluegrass and roots music community is large enough to encompass hundreds, if not thousands, of bands coast to coast, yet small enough to make lifelong colleagues and friends af...

DATE: Dec 31, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Josh Joswick: 2020: Tyranny, insanity and plain ol’ bull

In this time of rancor and ill-will toward our fellow man – wait a minute, isn’t it still the holiday season? – we can all agree on something: Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is an impartial so...

DATE: Dec 31, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Charles Brennan: Report shows rural Colorado struggled before the pandemic

As Coloradans start to imagine rebuilding an economy after the pandemic, a newly released report suggests that, as of the end of 2018, many parts of rural Colorado still haven’t recovered fr...

DATE: Dec 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Bringing everything back to basics

As we approach the new year, resolutions are typically on everyone’s minds. Especially after a particularly challenging 2020, we are looking for ways to ensure that 2021 will be d...

DATE: Dec 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: Nourishing Morsels

Man plays with woman’s emotions

Dear Abby: I’m someone who doesn’t get noticed often by the opposite sex. So when I do receive attention, it’s a very nice feeling. The problem is, I am getting that attention from a man...

DATE: Dec 29, 2020 | 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