Columnists - The Durango Herald

Exes check in to new phase of uncertainty

DEAR ABBY: I was with my ex-fiance for 13 years. Not long after he broke up with me, I found myself going to meet him at a hotel. We have been seeing each other regularly, once a week at lea...

DATE: Dec 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Art should inspire, be thought provoking, even shock, just not ridiculous

Right up front I need to say that I am not qualified to write about this topic. So, let’s get to it. I will boldly go where I should not. Not being qualified has never stopped me before. A b...

DATE: Dec 17, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Does artificial intelligence change how we talk about rural America?

About a month ago, I was doing research for a story about school choice on multiple state ballots when I came across something that stopped me in my tracks. Unless you’re living under a rock...

DATE: Dec 16, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Days Inn extreme makeover coming, but slowly

Dear Action Line: What is happening with the Days Inn on north Main Avenue? A January article said it had been purchased by Hansji Corporation in 2022, and that it was to be rebranded as...

DATE: Dec 16, 2024 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Working together with renewed public engagement we can accomplish great things

City staff members and City Council are planning to introduce a ballot measure in April that, if passed by residents, will extend the city’s current half-cent dedicated sales tax on every ta...

DATE: Dec 15, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Column: Cox’s success with Fort Lewis College football something everyone can root for

Skyhawks won three games this year and should return majority of players

DATE: Dec 15, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Husband concerns expectant mom

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married less than a year, and I’m pregnant with my first child. Our baby was planned, and we were thrilled. Something changed with my husband once I hit...

DATE: Dec 14, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Celebrate our special community: Shop local, support nonprofits and embrace abundance

As we embrace the holiday season, we’re reminded of the strength and uniqueness of our community. The Giving Season is a chance to reflect on the abundance around us, not just in material go...

DATE: Dec 14, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

La Plata Electric Association is ready to deliver ‘Community Power’

Keeping the lights on for over 75,000 people 365 days a year is no simple task. Delivering electric power relies on a coordinated effort of generators and transmission lines strung over thou...

DATE: Dec 14, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Change is constant

“The only constant in life is change.” This quote, attributed to Heraclitus, comes up frequently in conversations with San Juan Mountains Association’s staff members. As cliché as it is, it ...

DATE: Dec 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Stewards of the Land

Why aren’t we building new homes to be accessible?

Recently, I helped a friend move into a brand-new house. Moving is an exciting and stressful time, and I will admit having a little house envy. A new build is a blank slate, with all the lat...

DATE: Dec 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: Creating Community

Shop local for the holidays

The Durango Business Improvement District encourages you to shop local this holiday season. Supporting local businesses at this time of year is the gift that keeps on giving. The businesses ...

DATE: Dec 13, 2024 | CATEGORY: What's Up Downtown

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