Columnists - The Durango Herald

Building immunity by nourishing the nerves

It is important to recognize our bodies as a complex system of systems, each influencing the other in a dynamic orchestration which cannot be described as anything but divine. Whe...

DATE: Apr 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: Nourishing Morsels

Injury alters friend’s personality

Dear Abby: “Stella” and I have been close friends for 25 years. Two years ago, she was in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. She has since recovered and returned to wo...

DATE: Apr 21, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Having the last word requires a dictionary and 3 z’s

It’s been a thrill and honor to write Action Line for the past 16 years. But all good things must come to an end. This is my final Action Line column. There. Those Seve...

DATE: Apr 20, 2020 | CATEGORY: Action Line

In this time of uncertainty, reach out to loved ones

A new job always has a learning curve and unexpected challenges, but I thought I was prepared. After all, I have worked in the La Plata County Extension Office for nine years, and in my yout...

DATE: Apr 20, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Uncertain times and our health

We are all different: various backgrounds, genetic makeup, political and religious beliefs. I see different metabolisms with hundreds of varying dietary needs, sensitivities and preferences ...

DATE: Apr 19, 2020 | CATEGORY: Strength in Well-being

As coal-fire power plants close, our skies are clearing

One of the noticeable, and remarkable, changes in recent years has been the dramatic improvement in visibility and air pollution in the Four Corners. Longer-term residents routin...

DATE: Apr 19, 2020 | CATEGORY: Thinking Green

Frank Bruni: A politician takes a sledgehammer to his own ego

In the market for inspiration? Try the parable of the blind man who gave up political glory for Jesus. He quickly climbed the rungs of power, became the lieutenant governor of the...

DATE: Apr 18, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

The COVID mandate: Adapt and survive

The theme song that appears to be emerging from the COVID-19 health crisis is “adapt and survive.” As thousands of businesses come to a screeching halt, we are all scrambling to ...

DATE: Apr 18, 2020 | CATEGORY: Local First

SJMA hopes to pursue wilderness efforts safely amid pandemic

By David Taft San Juan Mountains Association As one of Durango’s longest running public lands education and stewardship organizations, San Juan Mountains Association ha...

DATE: Apr 17, 2020 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Grad seeks ways to boost vocabulary

Dear Abby: I am a 26-year-old college graduate. I immigrated here in 2001, so English is my second language. I have no accent, and I have been doing well in my life overall, except I sco...

DATE: Apr 17, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

April is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

By Al Winzerling La Plata County Humane Society Every 60 seconds, an animal gets abused. What is cruelty to animals and how can we prevent it? Animal cruelty is the abu...

DATE: Apr 17, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

Melissa Youssef: Well that was quite a year as Durango’s mayor

What extraordinary times these are! On April 21, my term as mayor comes to an end. In a reflection of how life in Durango has changed, I’ll pass the gavel virtually. As tradition would have ...

DATE: Apr 17, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Photos: Durango High School boys golf competes at stateDemons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Demons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

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