Columnists - The Durango Herald

China deserves Trump

The U.S. president is right to force China to the trade table now, but the stakes are high and the path to win-win narrow

DATE: Jun 1, 2019 | CATEGORY: Thomas Friedman

Avoid these travel hacks for a smoother summer vacation

Travel hackers are thought to be some of the world’s smartest travelers. But they may not be as smart as they think. Consider what happened to the Lufthansa passenger who tried on...

DATE: Jun 1, 2019 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Attracting international visitors

The 48th Annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic was once again a very successful summer season opener, even as winter lingered a bit longer. Town was buzzing with visitors and locals alike, with ...

DATE: Jun 1, 2019 | CATEGORY: The Tourism Effect

Tiny apartment overwhelmed by gift

Dear Abby: My husband and I are expecting a baby in a few months. My father and his wife asked if we would like a large crib/changing table/shelf combination they took a fancy to at an a...

DATE: May 31, 2019 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Let your local library become your neighborhood hangout

Who remembers the TV show “Cheers?” The theme song’s chorus says, “Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where ...

DATE: May 31, 2019 | CATEGORY: Shelf Life

Mom fears son headed for heartbreak

Dear Abby: I am very close to my 19-year-old son. He is kind, sweet and big-hearted. He has learning disabilities and the maturity level of probably a 15- or 16-year-old. Naturally, I am...

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Local bands will battle this summer

Nobody said the music business was a walk in the park. The band Dire Straits took a sarcastic look at how some view the music biz with their 1985 hit “Money for Nothing,” with that infectiou...

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Seeing ‘white supremacy’ everywhere is foolish

In Australia recently, the party of the left lost an election it was supposed to win, to a conservative government headed by an evangelical Christian who won working-class votes by opposing ...

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Ross Douthat

Our cities are unlivable – blame wealthy liberals

To live in California is to experience the cryptic phrase that George W. Bush once used to describe the invasion of Iraq: “Catastrophic success.” The economy here is booming, but ...

DATE: May 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

The 90/10 principle for diet success

The diet roller-coaster or yo-yo dieting is all too familiar for so many. We know losing weight will help improve health, but making it happen is another story. The on-again, off-...

DATE: May 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

Girlfriend competes for time with ex

Dear Abby: I have been dating my boyfriend for two years. He is 10 years older, in his mid-40s. He is wonderful, kind, smart, and treats me well. There is only one issue: He still lives ...

DATE: May 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Stop facial recognition

San Francisco is right: We need to halt the technology at least until we figure out how it’s being used

DATE: May 27, 2019 | 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