Columnists - The Durango Herald

Pandemic escape: Sharing public lands during COVID-19

I, like many of you, have been connecting more than ever via social media in order to fill the void left by lack of real interaction. But some of the things I read make me wonder if we have ...

DATE: Aug 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Reduce your food bill and eat healthy with these thrifty tips

For the sixth week in a row, I’ve left the grocery store with a touch of sticker shock. The first few occasions, I blamed it on the purchase of higher-priced items you need only ...

DATE: Aug 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Nourishing yourself and your community

When we think about nourishing ourselves, we usually think about what we’re eating or how much we are exercising. We don’t often dive more deeply into the finer points of nutritio...

DATE: Aug 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: Nourishing Morsels

Dad feels helpless to mend teen’s crisis

Dear Abby: My 14-year-old daughter recently came out of the closet, and it has made my husband and me quite upset. She says she is “bicurious, pansexual and polyamorous.” She now insists...

DATE: Aug 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

10 p.m. last call for COVID-hol

Dear Action Line: Why did the state require bars to stop selling alcohol at 10 p.m.? Is that when COVID comes out and starts attacking drunken people? – Cruisin’ for a Boozin’ De...

DATE: Aug 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Richard Grossman: Looking for rain? Try reducing population growth

It is windy, hot and dry, dry, dry here. According to www.drought.gov, Durango is in an extreme drought. What’s going on? Do we need to start doing rain dances? Past droughts have...

DATE: Aug 2, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

2020: A season of loss

It truly is a season of loss. Loss of our freedom and casualness to just come and go as we please. It’s a loss of seeing people we love and groups of people we’re used to meeting with. It’s ...

DATE: Aug 1, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

Three easy ways to support local businesses

As we end the 20th week of our lives in a pandemic, the economic effects are starting to become clearer. Downtown and in the North Main District, we have seen a few business closu...

DATE: Aug 1, 2020 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Old friends meeting my new friend

Having become the poster boy as to why people pursue a career as an orthopedic surgeon, She Who Must Be Obeyed (SWMBO) thought I should have a river helper. My balance has becom...

DATE: Jul 31, 2020 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

‘Ike’s America’ radio show a history lesson

All of Ted Holteen’s favorite musicians are dead. Frank Sinatra died in 1998, Ella Fitzgerald in 1996. Vic Damone died in 2018, Bing Crosby in 1977 and Doris Day in 2019. But the...

DATE: Jul 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Clyde Church: County considers land use code for adoption

For almost three years, the La Plata County Board of County Commissioners and county staff have been working to develop and adopt a new land-use code that makes the development process more ...

DATE: Jul 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Maybe it’s low testosterone?

As we age, we tend to see dips in testosterone. This isn’t ideal as testosterone is a key hormone in keeping both men AND women at optimal health with high energy, supple skin, g...

DATE: Jul 29, 2020 | CATEGORY: Strength in Well-being

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