Columnists - The Durango Herald

Barbara McLachlan: State health care option could lower some costs

District 59 constituents are vocal, regularly letting me know how they think, and what I should do about it. By far, the issue concerning them most, generating the most heat and presenting t...

DATE: Mar 15, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Pioneering passion for plants: Botanist Alice Eastwood explored the Southwest

The American West has always had extraordinary women, but few of them have stopped to pick the flowers. For Women’s History Month, it is important to remember Alice Eastwood. Thi...

DATE: Mar 14, 2020 | CATEGORY: Gulliford's Travels

Melissa Youssef: Dynamic Durango is getting younger all the time

It’s people – not statistics – that give a community heart. And Durango is second to none in that department. Even so, the demographics that define our town tell a more textured story than j...

DATE: Mar 14, 2020 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Photographs of the night sky require careful processing

Greetings, Stargazers. The social media meme I saw last week directed at teachers is that there is a time change, a full moon and a Friday the 13th all in the same week, so good ...

DATE: Mar 14, 2020 | CATEGORY: What's up in Durango Skies

From balloons and blues to brews and breads

The Durango Business Improvement District has been very busy at the beginning of this year finalizing plans to support BID businesses in the heart of our community. Here are a few things to ...

DATE: Mar 14, 2020 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Should you upload your ID before you travel?

When Mary Kay Schoen reserved an apartment in Seattle through Airbnb, her confirmation came with a peppy prompt: “Let’s add your ID!” “This seems like an outrageous and unwise req...

DATE: Mar 13, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

What are the realities for people with autism?

In last month’s column, I attempted to dispel some of the prevailing myths around autism, including the myth of cause (likely genetic) and the myth of epidemic (better diagnostic criteria le...

DATE: Mar 13, 2020 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Gary Wockner: The damming truth about the Colorado River

The magnitude of the Colorado River’s decline (because of climate change) as outlined in the Science paper is “eye popping.” – Brad Udall, senior scientist at Colorado State University ...

DATE: Mar 13, 2020 | CATEGORY: Writers on the Range

Man leaves wife, daughters at curb

Dear Abby: I coordinated and paid for a 70th birthday party for my terminally ill husband. Fourteen people were invited, and seven of them were related to my only sister, “Carla.” ...

DATE: Mar 12, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Does your environment support your health?

Isn’t it ironic how easily resolutions dissolve, in spite of our persistent desire to be healthy? In as little as two months, well-intended habits have collapsed into a pile of ex...

DATE: Mar 11, 2020 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Man mad when wife resists advances

Dear Abby: I have been married for 30 years. I still work full time, and my husband is now retired. We have had issues during most of our marriage, mainly concerning his not getting enou...

DATE: Mar 10, 2020 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

What we wish you knew about your weight scale

Do you weigh yourself daily or even weekly? Is it a ritual so important that jumping out of bed, emptying your bladder, getting in your birthday suit and stepping on that weight scale is the...

DATE: Mar 9, 2020 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

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