Columnists - The Durango Herald

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

Sue Dorsey: Colorado’s overlooked small businesses still have time to grab a lifeline

We heard panic from our community lending partners almost immediately as the COVID-19 pandemic began forcing closures. The smallest local businesses were falling through the crack...

DATE: Jul 28, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Serious illness in children linked to coronavirus infection

The novel coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for COVID-19 disease, causes a broad range of health effects. Because of the newness of the virus and the disease...

DATE: Jul 26, 2020 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Global tourism impacts and creating the new normal

Last week, Visit Durango attended the Destinations International 2020 Annual Conference, the world’s largest conference for destination organizations and tourism boards. The mult...

DATE: Jul 25, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Tourism Effect

How to do your laundry while traveling

“Recycle” is a word experienced travelers never want to hear, and it isn’t because they hate the environment. Recycling means that you’re out of clean clothes while you’re on the...

DATE: Jul 24, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Your dog knows a lot of words, but does it know ‘yes’?

By Marcy Eckhardt La Plata County Humane Society Most attentive owners have taught their dogs basic words: “sit,” “down,” “touch,” “look,” “leave it,” “drop it,” “with ...

DATE: Jul 24, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

Girlfriend tired of being ignored

Dear Abby: I live with my significant other. We have been together for 13 years now. I would like to ask his stepmother why she refuses to acknowledge me. She sends holiday cards address...

DATE: Jul 24, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Bret Stephens: American crime and the crazy Baltimore model

In 2014, there were 211 homicides in the city of Baltimore. The next year, there were 342, an astonishing increase of 62%. The murder rate has barely budged since. What happened? ...

DATE: Jul 24, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Saxophonist Bob Hemenger lets music dictate the plan

It’s like fitting the square block into the round hole. A saxophone isn’t a bluegrass instrument by any means, but Pagosa Springs-based saxophone player Bob Hemenger has played his with many...

DATE: Jul 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Man’s indecision threatens marriage

DEAR ABBY: I have been with my husband for 29 years, 25 of them married. We have had good times and bad, like most couples, but over the last four years, things have changed. We came to ...

DATE: Jul 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Michelle Goldberg: Trump’s occupation of American cities has begun

The month after Donald Trump’s inauguration, Yale historian Timothy Snyder published the best-selling book “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century.” It was part of...

DATE: Jul 23, 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