Columnists - The Durango Herald

Victory gardens nourished bodies and souls in uncertain times

My Grandpa Parmenter was an auto parts salesman who had a pen collection like no other. He must have traded other salesmen – “I’ll give you a Big A Automotive for a Michelin” – an...

DATE: Apr 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Jonathan Thompson: We need the same resolve to tackle virus, climate

In the time of coronavirus, I headed to southern Utah’s remote canyon country to do some extreme social distancing. All I knew when I emerged a few days later in western Colorado...

DATE: Apr 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: Writers on the Range

Coronavirus: Fear and contraction, and hope and possibility

I think it’s Saturday – hard to know – the days are all the same now. This recent health crisis has brought up lots of emotions for everyone, young and old. Most people have a cer...

DATE: Apr 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Authentic Aging

How to tell if your travel company is going out of business

Remember Amoma. And Thomas Cook. And WOW Air. As travelers cautiously look ahead to their next trip, worried about the financial future of their chosen airline, cruise line or hot...

DATE: Apr 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Six activities to beat the shelter-in-place blues

With all the chaos globally because of COVID-19, we are all being encouraged to distance from restaurants, bars, crowded places and even quarantine in your home, when necessary. T...

DATE: Apr 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Tourism Effect

Woman says man should find new home

Dear Abby: My boyfriend of 15 years is in prison. We have two children together. Our relationship has been rough. We had a fight, and he went to jail for it. Another reason he went to pr...

DATE: Apr 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

It’s a serious mess

This is certainly not the column I had planned on writing. I was suppose to be in Tennessee fly fishing for bass. And, for the price of ice cream cones, have three-quarters of the Wild Bunch...

DATE: Apr 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

Mike Littwin: Polis didn’t need Trump to make him a virus foil

The wartime president is back. It took Donald Trump only a few days to realize that wishing away the novel coronavirus wasn’t going to work. It might have sunk in with the news that America ...

DATE: Apr 3, 2020 | CATEGORY: Mike Littwin

Grumpy grandpa a stick in the mud

Dear Abby: My husband has a contentious relationship with our grandchildren. He generally is a fun, happy and interesting person. But by nature, he is not “hands on” when it comes to chi...

DATE: Apr 2, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

New records you should give a listen to

That deafening silence you are hearing is coming from every venue in every town. Stages are dark and venues are as empty as some of the bank accounts of your favorite independent musicians, ...

DATE: Apr 2, 2020 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Father chooses friend over his family

Dear Abby: My father has been mostly absent from my life. We reconnected when I was an adult. I have always had feelings of abandonment, and because of this, I have constantly tried to b...

DATE: Mar 31, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

On a lighter note, here’s how goldfinches change color

I’m sick of hearing about the virus. How about a non-pandemic question? Around this time of year, the goldfinches suddenly turn bright yellow. How do they know when to change colors and what...

DATE: Mar 30, 2020 | CATEGORY: Action Line

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