Columnists - The Durango Herald

And a blind dog shall lead the humans – to love

CAMDEN, S.C. – Eulogies, it has always seemed to me, are best delivered while the subject is living and can enjoy hearing the best version of him- or herself. Thus, today’s column...

DATE: Jun 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Kathleen Parker

9-R board, administrators, could learn from you

I want to thank community members for the generous outpouring you showed in support of our school children. Together, we raised $860 to support Miller Middle School kids with negative lunch ...

DATE: Jun 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Cicadas enthrall visitors to the Durango Nature Center

Durango Nature Studies’ educators Mike Bienkowski and Kiley Smith, along with an amazing team of volunteer naturalists, wrapped up the final school field trips at the Durango Nature Center a...

DATE: Jun 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: Durango Nature Studies

Romance with ex’s sister causes rift

Dear Abby: I am a 57-year-old man who has been divorced for eight years. (My ex-wife was the one who filed.) I recently reconnected with my ex-wife’s sister, “Edith,” whom I hadn’t seen ...

DATE: Jun 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Community plans for emergency response with diverse populations

Passing the one year anniversary of the 416 Fire last week was a stark reminder of how overwhelming a community disaster can be. The distressing loss of life during Hurricane Kat...

DATE: Jun 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Preventive health care you can apply year-round

I’ll be the first to admit, religious sunscreen use is not one of my well-established habits. As is often the case with health, we know we should – but we don’t. This act of self-...

DATE: Jun 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Keep your family (including pets) safe this summer

Despite the long, chilly spring, warmer days will eventually make their way to our region. Outdoorsy locals will head out to partake in their favorite summer activities including biking, hik...

DATE: Jun 6, 2019 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

iAM MUSIC to kick off concert series

The phrase, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach,” doesn’t apply for faculty at iAM MUSIC. It’s a stupid phrase anyway, likely created by a one-hit wonder in the clever-phrase departme...

DATE: Jun 6, 2019 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Setting goals

I have heard it said, and I agree, when someone starts to fly fish they go through a series of self-imposed goals. First, they want to be able to master a cast. Little do they kn...

DATE: Jun 6, 2019 | CATEGORY: Flies & Lies

The brave and scary new world of trading blocs

WASHINGTON – We may be on the cusp of an upheaval in global trade. Since World War II, the international trading system has operated on the premise of “most favored nation (MFN),”...

DATE: Jun 6, 2019 | CATEGORY: Robert Samuelson

Feeding the whole family

When it comes to feeding our kids, it can be overwhelming to make good choices or to even know what that means anymore. With all the fad diets and changes in nutrition research an...

DATE: Jun 5, 2019 | CATEGORY: Nourishing Morsels

Unhappy wife is loath to be first in her family to divorce

Dear Abby: I am an attractive woman who has been married for 30 years. I think my husband has been cheating on me for most of them. Through the years I have seen the telltale signs and c...

DATE: Jun 5, 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