Columnists - The Durango Herald

Woman’s relationship on the rocks

Dear Abby: My man of three years and I are at a crossroads. He has gone from my boyfriend, to fiancé, back to boyfriend, to friend, to “I don’t know what he is now.” He showers me with g...

DATE: Nov 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Curls that aren’t so cute

We’ve all seen advertising pictures of little girls with cute curly hair. Those of us that fly fish have seen a fly cast that falls several feet short of the intended target because the line...

DATE: Nov 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

Bret Stephens: How the Times lost its way on the 1619 project

If there’s one word admirers and critics alike can agree on when it comes to In some ways, this ambition succeeded. The 1619 Project introduced a date, previously obscure to most Americans...

DATE: Nov 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Jamelle Bouie: We waited for a repudiation that never came

The liberal hope for the 2020 presidential election was a repudiation of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. It is no longer on the table. A Joe Biden win, if it happens, will ...

DATE: Nov 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

New retiree has advice for others

Dear Abby: I retired a year ago from a stressful job because I couldn’t take what it was doing to my health. Despite a divorce after a 35-year marriage 10 years ago, I had recovered fina...

DATE: Nov 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Reggae musician Nick Hagglof blazing his own trail

Local musician Nick Hagglof is creating a new style of reggae music. And while he’s at it, he’s starting a new record label that is releasing numerous singles along with his forthcoming EP, ...

DATE: Nov 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

What sugar cravings are telling you

As we approach the winter months and the holiday seasons, sugar tends to be omnipresent and more and more of a “struggle” for people I work with. When I ask sugar-craving folks wh...

DATE: Nov 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Nourishing Morsels

Woman can’t stand husband’s negativity

Dear Abby: I am a 39-year-old woman who has been in a relationship for five years and married for two. Abby, I am consumed with regret for marrying this man. He’s loyal and has a good jo...

DATE: Nov 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Hole in ballot envelope not for prying eyes

Dear Action Line: Why is there a hole in the center of my ballot envelope? Are people looking through it to see how I voted? Is there something nefarious at work? – My ballot, all mine. ...

DATE: Nov 2, 2020 | CATEGORY: Action Line

It’s important to embrace each stage of your life

Recently, my granddaughter asked me to write a letter for her “Pieces of My Heart” scrapbook for her freshman theology class. In the letter, I included why she was important to me, her stren...

DATE: Oct 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: Shelf Life

Keeping down the dog drama

By Marcy Eckhardt Rude dogs behind fences cause many of us cross the street or change directions completely. Having a dog lunge and bark behind a fence is unsettling and can cause...

DATE: Oct 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

Man disinclined to meet half-sisters

Dear Abby: My father, who has been gone for 40 years, had many good qualities, and he provided well for our family. I loved him and treasure many of the memories I have of my time with h...

DATE: Oct 30, 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