Columnists - The Durango Herald

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

Man unsure of future with fiancee

Dear Abby: My fiancee and I are in our early 50s. We dated for two years and have been engaged for three months. She’s a wonderful lady, and I can’t imagine life without her. ...

DATE: Oct 29, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

P.J. Moon ready to drop new album

The plan was to put out a four-song EP. However, time away from the stage allowed for more time to write, and that forthcoming EP from local rock band P.J. Moon and The Swappers turned into ...

DATE: Oct 29, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Fashion choices cause embarrassment

Dear Abby: Our 19-year-old daughter is wonderful in many ways. She’s smart, attends a university on academic scholarships and earns excellent grades. The problem is the way she dresses. ...

DATE: Oct 27, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Frogger played at 12th and Camino

Dear Action Line: I have almost been run over multiple times at the pedestrian crosswalk on Camino del Rio near River City Hall/Backcountry Experience. Someone is going to die if people cont...

DATE: Oct 26, 2020 | CATEGORY: Action Line

The holidays are fast approaching

It is hard to believe, but the holiday season is upon us. Thanksgiving is just one month away! Many things will be different this season, but I hope one thing remains the same. ...

DATE: Oct 24, 2020 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Rigorous process guides development of COVID-19 vaccines

It is becoming increasingly clear that a COVID-19 vaccine will not likely be widely available this year. Public health experts are also uniform in their guidance that a vaccine o...

DATE: Oct 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

New mother on her own for child care

Dear Abby: My stepdaughter is married to a very selfish man. They have a newborn baby, and he refuses to help her with the baby. He claims that because he works, he isn’t obligated. ...

DATE: Oct 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Widow’s kids begrudge her dating

Dear Abby: I was married for more than 30 years and have two grown children. The marriage wasn’t perfect, and I admit there were times when I badly wanted to walk out the door. My husban...

DATE: Oct 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Galloway a jack-of-all-trades

After 30-some years in the music business, Benny “Burle” Galloway knows the right and wrong way to do things. The one-time Durango local has kicked around the Colorado jam-grass ...

DATE: Oct 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

David Brooks: Is this the new future of American liberalism?

The United States recently endured its worst economic quarter in recorded history. If this trend had continued for an entire year, American economic output would have been down by...

DATE: Oct 21, 2020 | 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