Columnists - The Durango Herald

Girlfriend finally calls it quits

DEAR ABBY: My girlfriend and I broke up after six years. Both of us have children from marriages that ended seven years ago. We reached a point a year and a half ago and started looking for ...

DATE: Jun 25, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

In the mountain park: Access to aliens, and a long-ago fire

Dear Action Line: When I hike up into Overend Mountain Park, at the top of one of the many hills there is a slab of concrete, much like a house foundation, as well as a rusted-out metal ...

DATE: Jun 24, 2024 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Changing Leads

There is always a lot of learning and talk about “getting on the right lead,” to direct your horse with your body language. It is the unspoken way to tell a horse which direction to go. I ...

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Sports

‘Difficult to feel pride in all Russians can boast about’

Many years ago, in the 1980s, I went to Brighton Beach, then in its heyday as a district of newly arrived Soviet Jews, to celebrate the first year (there would not be many more) of the livel...

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

On wolves: ‘Boebert’s bill short-circuits scientific process’

In November 2020, Colorado voters decided to restore gray wolves to their former home in Colorado. That vote, and the state-led restoration process now underway is a historic event in wildli...

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

‘Crucial that left look at future, respond in relevant’ manner

Immigration is indeed a problem; all Americans agree on that. The right is largely opposed to any immigration, and the left understands that the tolerance of the American people on this iss...

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Guest Columns

Proposed blinking tower at Bears Ears would ‘defile, dishonor’

My Navajo homeland is the great expanse of land between four sacred mountains in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. It is our place of origin and Navajo spiritual traditions are rooted ...

DATE: Jun 23, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

Granddaughters’ bikinis make waves at gathering

DEAR ABBY: I have two granddaughters and four grandsons. My granddaughters, ages 19 and 20, wear thong bikinis at family swim events in front of their dad, grandpa, uncles and cousins. I bel...

DATE: Jun 22, 2024 | CATEGORY: Dear Abby

The hidden power of hydration: Unlocking the benefits of electrolytes

When trying to drop weight, we often overlook one of the most crucial aspects of our health – hydration. Did you know that even mild dehydration can affect your weight, mood, energy levels, ...

DATE: Jun 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Strength in Well-being

Juneteenth ‘a moment in long-running struggle to realize freedom’

Last week at a Juneteenth concert on the south lawn of the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris said that on June 19, 1865, after Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, “The enslaved...

DATE: Jun 21, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

GA-20 plays the punky-blues

Every band has different methods for how they create and debut new songs. Some bands may have a member write individually, then bring the work in progress to other band members to add their ...

DATE: Jun 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Downtown Lowdown

Osprey supports ‘protections for Dolores River Canyons’

Since 1974, Osprey has provided hikers, backpackers, bikers and everyday travelers with innovative and long-lasting carry solutions, each thoughtfully designed to reflect a passion for explo...

DATE: Jun 19, 2024 | CATEGORY: Opinion

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