Health - The Durango Herald

Walking is medicine? It helped high-risk seniors stay mobile

WASHINGTON – It’s not too late to get moving: Simple physical activity – mostly walking – helped high-risk seniors stay mobile after disability-inducing ailments even if, at 70 and beyond, t...

DATE: Sep 30, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Mother uncovers lasting impact of baby son’s organ donation

‘I don’t think people understand how valuable these donations are’

DATE: Sep 27, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Health clinics promote proper diets

Chicago-area food banks work with medical providers

DATE: Sep 25, 2016 | CATEGORY: Nation & World

Drug-resistant germs cause alarm, prompt UN meeting

NEW YORK – World leaders are pushing to end the overuse of antibiotics and to encourage the development of new medicines, driven by concern that drug-resistant germs could lead to millions o...

DATE: Sep 24, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Treat or monitor early prostate cancer? 10-year survival rate is the same

LONDON – Men with early prostate cancer who choose to closely monitor their disease are just as likely to survive at least 10 years as those who have surgery or radiation, finds a major stud...

DATE: Sep 22, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Chronic fatigue syndrome resembles hibernation

One of the most spectacular feats of such creatures as bats, bees and snakes is hibernation. For months at a time, these animals essentially go into power-save mode. Their temperature drops,...

DATE: Sep 19, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Researchers creating antibiotic gel to tackle ear infections

WASHINGTON – Parents know the frustration of trying to get that gunky pink antibiotic into a tot screaming from an ear infection. A one-time squirt of special ear drops one day might replace...

DATE: Sep 16, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Kissing chickens is bad for your health, CDC warns

The backyard chicken trend that has taken hold of America has a lot going for it, occasional neighborly disputes notwithstanding. The eggs are fresh, it’s clear where they came from and rais...

DATE: Sep 14, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Surge in ER visits for injuries, concussions from soccer

CHICAGO – Soccer injuries are sending soaring numbers of U.S. kids to emergency rooms, a trend driven in part by young players with concussions seeking urgent medical care, a study has found...

DATE: Sep 13, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

More cases of superbug precursor reported, but no spread

NEW YORK – A fourth U.S. person has been diagnosed with bacteria resistant to a last resort antibiotic, but researchers are expressing relief that so far these superbug precursors have not s...

DATE: Sep 9, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

Zika remains global emergency, as virus spreads

GENEVA – The World Health Organization says the outbreak of Zika remains an international health emergency and that while the virus continues to hit new countries, experts still aren’t sure ...

DATE: Sep 5, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

More U.S. adults use marijuana, don’t think it’s risky

NEW YORK – Marijuana use is becoming more accepted among U.S. adults as states loosen pot laws, new national survey data shows. More are using marijuana, using it more often and ...

DATE: Sep 2, 2016 | CATEGORY: Health

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