From the Extension Office

Angela Fountain

Position: La Plata County Extension Office

Email: angela.fountain@co.laplata.co.us

Nicole Clark

Position: La Plata County Extension Office

Email: nicole.clark@co.laplata.co.us

Celebrating a year of growth and success with La Plata County 4-H

As we wrap up another incredible 4-H year, I am inspired and so proud of the many experiences and successes our members have achieved. From local activities to international adventures, La P...

DATE: Sep 26, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

An all-natural medicine you must know about

Summer 2025 has reached its end. Being the adult you are, with the responsibilities you have, it probably means summer flew by way too fast. If you didn’t prioritize spending time outdoors w...

DATE: Sep 25, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Cover crops aren’t just for farmers

As loathe as I am to start talking about putting the gardens to bed, especially when it’s 80 degrees as I write this column, I am acutely aware that the days are getting shorter, nights are ...

DATE: Sep 3, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

La Plata County Fair: A celebration of community, talent and 4-H Excellence

The 2025 La Plata County Fair was an incredible success, filled with laughter, learning and a deep sense of community pride. This year’s fair offered a perfect blend of tradition and innovat...

DATE: Aug 27, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

The tantalizing and tormenting tomatoes

As we head into August on this trip around the sun, this feels like a good time to talk about all things tomato. We as gardeners and farmers know the joy and heartache of growing this little...

DATE: Jul 31, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

It’s fair season in La Plata County!

Mark your calendars, this year’s La Plata County Fair will be held Aug. 6 to Aug. 11 at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. The week will be packed with adorable animals, impress...

DATE: Jul 26, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Searching for ways to save money? Get thrifty

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Fenn’s treasure. A million dollars in gold, hidden somewhere in the Rockies, by Forrest Fenn, a Santa Fe art dealer. Fenn’s treasure was eventually found, b...

DATE: Jul 9, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Are you prepared for the fair?

If you live most places in the United States, especially in a rural county, then you know there are actually five seasons: winter, spring, summer, fair, and fall. Now you may not have realiz...

DATE: Jul 4, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

4-H packs June with camps, competitions, and leadership growth

June is one of the busiest and most exciting months for 4-H. As soon as school lets out, our calendar quickly fills with workshops, competitions, camps, conferences and travel opportunities....

DATE: Jun 25, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

So, what’s bugging you this spring?

Most of us get very excited as the days get longer and the plants are greener, and spring is officially warming our hearts as well as our skin. But we all notice that with a warming to our h...

DATE: Jun 10, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Emergency preparation is a proactive approach during drought

If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, you’ll appreciate knowing this isn’t the driest year to date in La Plata County. However, in the last 131 years, it is the 10th driest. Thus, it m...

DATE: Jun 6, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

Celebrating our 2025 4-H Scholarship winners

The 4-H program is proud to recognize four outstanding youths who have been awarded this year’s 4-H scholarships. These young leaders have demonstrated hard work, dedication and a commitment...

DATE: May 13, 2025 | CATEGORY: From the Extension Office

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