Columnists - The Durango Herald

Trump lost immigration battle, may win the war

NEW YORK – Democrats are exultant that Donald Trump had to reverse his policy of separating immigrant families at the border. And there is good reason to celebrate: The policy was mean-spiri...

DATE: Jun 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Fareed Zakaria

Blow: Immigration policies reflect white minority anxiety

Last week Pat Buchanan was on “The Laura Ingraham Show” to discuss the humanitarian crisis Donald Trump has created at the border by ripping children away from their parents. He w...

DATE: Jun 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Is your juniper tree looking rusty? Blame it on this fungus

Editor’s note: Get Growing, written by the La Plata County Extension Office’s Master Gardener Program, appears during the growing season. It features timely tips and suggestions for your...

DATE: Jun 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Get Growing

Brooks: Amnesty thugs rise in immigration debate

Ripping children away from their parents is the most cinematically cruel part of the Trump immigration policy, but it is not the most telling part. The most telling part is what happened to ...

DATE: Jun 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: David Brooks

Watermelon board has colorful option to slapping

Much to my frugal husband’s horror, I’ve been purchasing pre-cut watermelon. I’m sick of buying the whole watermelon only to find it either over- or under-ripe. Yes, yes. I know I can return...

DATE: Jun 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Husband wants wife to travel

DEAR ABBY: My wife and I have been married for 42 years. For the most part, we have had a good marriage. We raised two children, are helping to raise three grandchildren and still enjoy ...

DATE: Jun 25, 2018 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Critics question influence of airline perks on Congress

When Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., canceled most of the Senate’s August recess, lawmakers and staffers didn’t have to worry about one thing: airline ticket change fees. ...

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

Woman roped into friend’s affair

DEAR ABBY: I have two friends I am equally close to, “Jane” and “Mary.” We live in the same neighborhood. They are both married, live across the street from each other and spend time tog...

DATE: Jun 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Mitsch Bush: It’s time for our government to work for us all

I am running for Congress because Donald Trump and Congressman Scott Tipton are moving us backward and are dividing us. My guiding principle is that together we can create a more...

DATE: Jun 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Hanlon: Time to put focus back on real American values

I learned what it means to be an American from my parents, Depression-era kids who fought and worked to make the world a better place. My dad fought in World War II and was a uni...

DATE: Jun 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Marbury: I could not be prouder of our town

The firefighters and support teams protecting Durango are our heroes. I see signs at businesses and placards in windows, and I hear the applause in the voices of residents in our community f...

DATE: Jun 23, 2018 | CATEGORY: From the Mayor

Finding a future in Durango: EDV program is an essential link to a better life

Nearly 246,000 Nepalese live throughout the United States, and of this number, about 13,000 make Colorado home. Of these, a small number live right here in Durango. People do not...

DATE: Jun 23, 2018 | 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