Health - The Durango Herald

Simpler, one-dose treatment to prevent malaria relapse OK’d

U.S. regulators Friday approved a simpler, one-dose treatment to prevent relapses of malaria. Standard treatment now takes two weeks and studies show many patients don’t finish ta...

DATE: Jul 22, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Bayer to stop sales of birth control device tied to injuries

WASHINGTON – The maker of a permanent contraceptive implant subject to thousands of injury reports and repeated safety restrictions by regulators said Friday that it will stop selling the de...

DATE: Jul 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Gene tests can provide health clues – and needless worry

NEW YORK – Last year, Katie Burns got a phone call that shows what can happen in medicine when information runs ahead of knowledge. Burns learned that a genetic test of her fetus ...

DATE: Jul 20, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Mom blames teen’s death on packaging for peanut cookies

WESTON, Fla. – A Florida mother blames the death of her 15-year-old daughter on what she calls confusing packaging for Reese’s Chips Ahoy cookies. In a July 12 Facebook post, Kell...

DATE: Jul 19, 2018 | CATEGORY: Food

U.S. health official reveals fentanyl almost killed his son

‘For me, it’s personal,’ Redfield says

DATE: Jul 19, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

New ways to conquer sleep apnea compete for place in bedroom

Every night without fail, Paul Blumstein straps on a mask that prevents him from repeatedly waking up, gasping for air. It’s been his routine since he was diagnosed with a conditi...

DATE: Jul 18, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

June inspections: La Casita, Giant, Majestic ...

June inspection reports released

DATE: Jul 15, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

As singles grow older, the prospect of declining health can provoke fears

Not long before I turned 60, my husband and I split up, and a health concern that I’d never really worried about jumped out at me: What would I do, now alone, if I became seriously ill? ...

DATE: Jul 13, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Late-life high blood pressure may harm the brain, study says

Decades ago, hundreds of nuns and priests made an extraordinary decision: They agreed to donate their brains upon death to science, hoping to help solve mysteries about Alzheimer’s and other...

DATE: Jul 11, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

How to enjoy summer but avoid its pitfalls

Hanging with friends and family in the summer is all part of the fun. But the endless unhealthy summertime eats don’t have to ruin your waistline and leave you feeling “blah.” ...

DATE: Jul 11, 2018 | CATEGORY: Healing Nutrition

What do doctors know about food? Not very much

When Americans hear about a health craze, they may turn to their physician for advice: Will that superfood really boost brain function? Is that supplement okay for me to take? Or ...

DATE: Jul 9, 2018 | CATEGORY: Health

Residents call for additional testing at proposed homeless camp

Future site poses unanswered health questions

DATE: Jul 8, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

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