Health - The Durango Herald

U.S. Alzheimer’s rate seems to be dropping

The rate of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias is falling in the United States and some other rich countries – good news about an epidemic that is still growing simply because more peop...

DATE: Aug 3, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

Health Briefs

Health Advisory Council to meet at rec center The Citizens Health Advisory Council will meet from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Friday in the Sunlight Room at Durango Community Recreation Center...

DATE: Aug 3, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

Health Briefs

Pot toxicity in animals to be discussed A free community presentation called “Marijuana Toxicity in Animals” will take place at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at Durango Public Library, 1900 Ea...

DATE: Jul 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

How a paper clip and a flame can save a fingernail

For 20 years running, we shared New Year’s Eve with college friends and their families. One such celebration began with a minor but painful injury. Before leaving on a three-hour...

DATE: Jul 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

What goes into choosing a doctor?

People trust personal recommendations over online feedback

DATE: Jul 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

Seeking an unnatural edge

Teens ignore health risks of human growth hormones

DATE: Jul 27, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

Are you paying attention to your thirst?

I’m always amused when I visit the Bar D and the Wranglers sing the lyrics of the old Bob Nolan song “Cool Water.” It never fails as they harmonize about the barren waste and their dry throa...

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: La Plata Health Watch

Health Briefs

United Blood Services to hold blood drives The United Blood Services will host these blood drives: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 1 in the Bloodmobile at Mercy Regional Medi...

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

The art of baby-making

Doulas, midwives, childbirth educators can make journey a joyous one

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

Biological pacemaker on horizon

Experiments on pigs’ hearts have led to battery-less option

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

For brain boost, go for a walk, talk to a friend

These and other lifestyle changes can lower Alzheimer’s risk

DATE: Jul 19, 2014 | CATEGORY: Health

Generic drugs increase in price rapidly

The first sign of trouble came when Dr. Barry Lindenberg, a cardiologist, received a three-page insurance form in January, demanding he get preapproval to prescribe one of the oldest known h...

DATE: Jul 13, 2014 | 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