Columnists - The Durango Herald

The return of buffalo gives hope for community

The birth of every buffalo calf on tribal land marks a cultural and spiritual victory that gives tribal members hope. As each calf struggles to stand and walk, the hearts of triba...

DATE: Nov 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Durango goes green with all these blooming bags

What’s with all the green plastic flowers around town? You know, the ones that look like little plastic bags, artfully knotted and with a floral flourish on top. I see more of these all the ...

DATE: Nov 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Flu vaccine is safe, effective protection for children

A recent University of Michigan poll indicated that one-third of parents are unlikely to get their children vaccinated for influenza this year. This is despite the fact that inf...

DATE: Nov 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Business trip raises questions

DEAR ABBY: I’m worried for my son. He’s going on his first business trip in January – to Japan. He doesn’t drink alcohol. (He’s not an alcoholic; it’s his personal choice.) His bosses, w...

DATE: Nov 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Don’t forget the new normal that is not normal

WASHINGTON – Across much of media lately, the phrase “new normal” keeps cropping up to describe what is, in fact, not normal, as most sane adults have understood its meaning. This...

DATE: Nov 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Kathleen Parker

Good things in family planning

At the risk of seeming overly optimistic, I would like to make a list of good things that are happening in the world of family planning and demography. Here goes: My perception is...

DATE: Nov 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Population Matters

City and county elections saw terrific turnout

“Election Day outside of big cities is different. For one thing, there are so few people in my town that each individual vote does matter and several local races have been decided by as many...

DATE: Nov 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Kids declare themselves in so many different ways

It’s 7 a.m. and our bed has been filled with small visitors and their weaponized elbows for some time. The sun is just rising, except it’s snowing and everything has been transfo...

DATE: Nov 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Adventures in Motherhood

It’s starting to look like the holidays

The wreaths are hung, the tree is lit, and the lights are up in downtown and in the North Main District. The holidays are here! The Durango Business Improvement District asks you to visit ou...

DATE: Nov 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

Holiday travel isn’t easy. Don’t make it harder

At about this time every year, radio and TV producers ask me to go on the air and dispense travel advice. They’ll ask me how to avoid the agony of holiday travel. And at about th...

DATE: Nov 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Opposing views could doom couple

DEAR ABBY: I am a Christian who is passionate and vocal about being an ally to the LGBTQ community. I have close family members and friends who are part of that community, so I never wai...

DATE: Nov 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

10th Mountain Division members are World War II heroes

By Ruth E. Lambert San Juan Mountains Association As we begin this winter, 76 years ago, winter preparations were underway for ski and snowshoe outings of national impo...

DATE: Nov 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

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