Health - The Durango Herald

U.S. medical marketing reaches $30 billion; drug ads top surge

Ads for prescription drugs appeared 5 million times in just one year, capping a recent surge in U.S. medical marketing, a new analysis found. The advertisements for various medici...

DATE: Jan 9, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

New Year’s nutrition success tips

The new year always marks a fresh start when it comes to our health. It’s a great time of year to set new goals and achieve new milestones. You’re familiar with the common resolut...

DATE: Jan 9, 2019 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

U.S. cancer death rate hits milestone: 25 years of decline

NEW YORK – The U.S. cancer death rate has hit a milestone: It’s been falling for at least 25 years, according to a new report. Lower smoking rates are translating into fewer death...

DATE: Jan 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

Low carb? Low fat? What the latest dieting studies tell us

NEW YORK – Bacon and black coffee for breakfast, or oatmeal and bananas? If you’re planning to try to lose weight in 2019, you’re sure to find a fierce debate online and among fri...

DATE: Jan 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Food

Detecting depression: Phone apps could monitor teen angst

Rising suicide rates and depression in U.S. teens and young adults have prompted researchers to ask a provocative question: Could the same devices that some people blame for contributing to ...

DATE: Jan 6, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

New hearts forge new friendship for transplant recipients

CHICAGO – A suburban Detroit woman and South Side Chicago man are recovering in a Chicago hospital following rare triple transplant surgeries that gave them the healthy heart, liver and kidn...

DATE: Jan 4, 2019 | CATEGORY: Health

AP-NORC Poll: Edit baby genes for health, not smarts, poll says

WASHINGTON – Most Americans say it would be OK to use gene-editing technology to create babies protected against a variety of diseases – but a new poll finds they’d draw the line at changing...

DATE: Dec 31, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Financial recovery on track, Southwest Health System says

Popular doctor rehired; board of directors gets new members

DATE: Dec 31, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Health insurance on demand? Some are betting on it

People with health insurance often pay for coverage they never use. A startup wants to shake that up. It’s a radical idea: On-demand insurance that lets customers buy some of thei...

DATE: Dec 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Relieve heartburn naturally

When you’re dealing with acid reflux, heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease, it can be difficult to enjoy your favorite meals. The pain associated with these conditions ca...

DATE: Dec 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

U.S. adults aren’t getting taller, but they’re still putting on pounds

NEW YORK – You don’t need to hang the mistletoe higher but you might want to skip the holiday cookies. A new report released Thursday shows U.S. adults aren’t getting any taller b...

DATE: Dec 24, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Device opens airways for a good night’s rest

Specialist at Mercy offers new treatment for sleep apnea

DATE: Dec 20, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

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