Columnists - The Durango Herald

Ex-wife likes to stir the pot

DEAR ABBY: I am dating an older man with two ex-wives. I have met both of them. I don’t mind them. The last ex-wife and I get along. She usually calls me because he won’t answer his phone fo...

DATE: Oct 1, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Couple stunned by friends’ beliefs

DEAR ABBY: We are a male couple celebrating 34 years of partnership. We recently took a cruise, during which we met four straight couples traveling together who welcomed us into their group....

DATE: Oct 1, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

Why fighting Tipple traffic light is an uphill battle

Dear Action Line: Why does the Twin Buttes neighborhood have its own traffic light? Westbound traffic on U.S. Highway 160 is often stopped (killing momentum for the climb, I might add) f...

DATE: Sep 30, 2024 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Calling all cowboys

Come celebrate Durango’s Western heritage in October

DATE: Sep 29, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

Generous gift comes with conditions

DEAR ABBY: My fiance and I have been together for 14 years. A few months ago, his mother told us she had inherited a home that had belonged to her parents, and she wanted to gift it to us. I...

DATE: Sep 28, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

How a terrorism exhibit in Colorado distorts the story of Jan. 6

When the CELL first opened in 2008, Melanie Pearlman, the executive director, remarked to a Denver Post reporter that the exhibit transcended partisanship. Everyone could agree, after all, t...

DATE: Sep 28, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

‘Yes’ to Proposition 127: It’s well past time to stop maligning lions

We want to thank the editor for apologizing to proponents of Proposition 127 for failing to interview us before abruptly issuing an opinion. We are 27 locals, including seasoned wildlife bio...

DATE: Sep 28, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Caring for a garden includes self care

I know it is the time of year when we become nostalgic for hot cider, hayrides, pumpkins, holiday gatherings and the changing leaves (which, to be fair, are gorgeous already). This is also t...

DATE: Sep 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Channel your inner cowboy (and cowgirl)

It’s hard to be friends with your neighbor if you never meet them. In a world of growth and digital communication, communities can struggle to maintain meaningful, face-to-face relationships...

DATE: Sep 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Desert descendants: Why cats need moisture-rich diets and how to provide it

Every Duragoan knows the importance of staying hydrated, but how often do you think about your cat’s hydration? Cats have been companions to humans for thousands of years, with the first sig...

DATE: Sep 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: From the Humane Society

Dad’s suicide affects daughter’s choices

DEAR ABBY: My husband’s uncle died by suicide in his home six months ago. It was a shock to the entire family. Since the funeral, we have helped to settle his affairs, including cleaning out...

DATE: Sep 27, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

A dazzling showcase

The Fort Lewis College Performing Arts Department will unveil the 2024 Faculty Showcase at 3 p.m. Sunday in Roshong Recital Hall. It’s a significant event as the recital brings forth veteran...

DATE: Sep 25, 2024 | CATEGORY: Culture Gulch

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