Columnists - The Durango Herald

Will wolves join lynx as recovered species in Colorado?

Twenty years ago, Colorado wildlife officials restored long-missing lynx to the state’s forests and mountains. It was a joy to watch lynx bound away from their release point at Rio Grande Re...

DATE: Sep 19, 2020 | CATEGORY: Thinking Green

Why join Visit Durango’s Board of Directors?

Visit Durango is currently accepting applications for our Board of Directors from now through October 31, 2020. The Visit Durango Board of Directors is organized by sector to ensu...

DATE: Sep 19, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Tourism Effect

Challenging 4-H year ends with much to celebrate

September wraps up our 2019-20 4-H year, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was quite the memorable year! We had a lot of ups and downs, but we made it through to...

DATE: Sep 18, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Sober mom regrets pain she caused

Dear Abby: After smoking marijuana for 20 years, I quit two days ago. My head is starting to clear now, and things are coming into focus. I missed so much, and I feel terrible about it. ...

DATE: Sep 18, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Charlie Henry keeping things diverse

Local bass player Charlie Henry is still finding plenty of musical things to do, even though the uninvited guest that’s refusing to leave is still staining the industry. He’s bee...

DATE: Sep 17, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Ross Douthat: Let’s talk about what isn’t President Trump’s fault

Recently, I wrote a column arguing that the blundering of the Trump administration, while real and deadly, may not be responsible for the bulk of America’s coronavirus fatalities. ...

DATE: Sep 16, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Fad diets: Let’s talk about Keto

Today let’s jump into the second fad diet in this series “Fad Diet Demystified.” Today’s fad diet – the ketogenic or “Keto” diet – promises quick weight loss and lower total-body inflammatio...

DATE: Sep 16, 2020 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Early lesson helps overcome shyness

Dear Abby: When I was a young adult, I had difficulty speaking with strangers. I recall, some years later, attending a party in honor of someone I truly admired. Most of the people there...

DATE: Sep 15, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Blue boxes ready to accept your mail – and ballots

Dear Action Line: With all the mailboxes being removed in the United States, can you find out where the mailboxes are found in Durango and the surrounding area? – U.S. Male Dear U...

DATE: Sep 14, 2020 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Richard Grossman: ‘Natural’ disasters even more destructive in Africa

When I last wrote about the mega-drought in southwestern North America, we were in “extreme drought.” The rain started toward the end of July, although the drought hasn’t ended. Unfortunatel...

DATE: Sep 13, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

The passing of a Pueblo elder: Remembering Peter Pino

He deepened the understanding of Mesa Verde’s past

DATE: Sep 12, 2020 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Jupiter and Saturn are the stars of September’s night sky

Greetings, Stargazers. September is the month when daylight hours shorten faster than any other month. Even though autumn doesn’t officially begin until the equinox early on the m...

DATE: Sep 12, 2020 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

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