Columnists - The Durango Herald

Where in the world shouldn’t you go?

With violence against American tourists in the news, summer travelers who usually ask, “Where should I go this year?” may be more likely to ask, “Which places should I avoid?” Her...

DATE: Jun 16, 2019 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

The other D-Day: 75 years ago, it lit up the Pacific

As allied troops crossed the English Channel to invade northern France on June 6, 1944, 600 U.S. Navy ships were converging on the Mariana Islands, Japanese territory only 1,200 miles from t...

DATE: Jun 15, 2019 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Business as a force for good

Can business be a force for positive change in the world? Taking a step further, can business address the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges? The next gener...

DATE: Jun 15, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local First

Serial dater’s love life hard for friend

Dear Abby: I have a guy friend who goes from girl to girl constantly. People talk about what a player he is and say he doesn’t really like the women he’s dating. He has been called despe...

DATE: Jun 14, 2019 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Pausing for a few moments may help your dog reset

By Marcy Eckhardt Special to the Herald Picture this: You’re standing at the doorway, leash in hand, and your dog is going crazy in front of you. All she wants to do is...

DATE: Jun 14, 2019 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

I’m still not a socialist – don’t believe the hype

Once again, Rep. Scott Tipton is labeling me a “Socialist” (“ This has been standard procedure from Republicans for a very long time. Here’s what then-President Harry Truman said about it i...

DATE: Jun 14, 2019 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Witches, astrology speak to resistance, disruption

We’re living in the middle of a religious revival; it’s just that the movements are not what we normally call “religion.” The first is astrology. According to a 2018 Pew poll, 29%...

DATE: Jun 14, 2019 | CATEGORY: David Brooks

Day camp builds friendships, practical skills

The month of June is an exciting one for the La Plata County 4-H program, and it is filled with experiences that can positively shape our members’ lives into the future. Currently...

DATE: Jun 13, 2019 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Chatham County Line hits Durango

Chandler Holt’s bluegrass and banjo obsession started with a cassette. Long before he had an awareness of anything bluegrass music-related, he was a typical music fan absorbing w...

DATE: Jun 13, 2019 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Civility doesn’t just work, it also makes us noble

WASHINGTON – In his influential 1984 book, “The Naked Public Square,” Richard John Neuhaus recalled attending an event featuring the late Jerry Falwell Sr., who delivered an angry excoriatio...

DATE: Jun 12, 2019 | CATEGORY: Michael Gerson

These common digestive symptoms are not normal

Do you suffer from symptoms such as gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea? If so, it’s important to understand that these gut problems are not normal. They are your body’s way...

DATE: Jun 12, 2019 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Friend’s lifestyle alters time together

Dear Abby: My wife, “Libby’s,” dearest friend of 20 years, “Melanie,” has changed her lifestyle. Melanie and her husband have become “swingers.” Now when Libby meets her socially, all Me...

DATE: Jun 12, 2019 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

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