La Plata County Sheriff - The Durango Herald

La Plata County Sheriff’s Office deputies form collective bargaining unit

Employees voted 30 to 14 in favor of adopting Fraternal Order of Police representation

DATE: May 3, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

Officer injured by La Plata County Jail escapee sues county, jail and sheriff’s office

Elias Buck is accused of shooting Farmington cop 11 days after escaping detention center

DATE: Apr 12, 2024 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County woman arrested on suspicion of attempted murder

Patricia Loaiza is accused of stabbing her husband in neck, back

DATE: Oct 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Inmate who died at La Plata County Jail had fentanyl in system

Despite drugs in blood, coroner rules cause of death is health related

DATE: Oct 10, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Law enforcement responds to pellet gun shooting in Animas Valley

‘The public’s not in any danger at this point’

DATE: Oct 3, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Man arrested on suspicion of armed robbery north of Hermosa

Suspect fired two gunshots into the air before surrendering to law enforcement

DATE: Sep 26, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Car camper found dead in La Plata Mountains is identified

Investigators confirm man’s identity almost two weeks after his death

DATE: Jul 24, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Search inconclusive for body reportedly seen floating down Animas River

Durango Police Department seeks information to help in recovery

DATE: Jun 26, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Body of Vallecito kayaker found and identified

Victim was submerged more than 80 feet at bottom of lake

DATE: Jun 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Man drowns in Vallecito Reservoir

Body of 21-year-old victim has not been recovered

DATE: Jun 12, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Hiker slips, fatally hits head in La Plata Canyon

Russell Hill, 62, was rescuing his dog from swift-moving waterway

DATE: May 30, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Weekend crime spree leads to standoff at Durango motel

Man is arrested without incident while woman barricades herself into room at Adobe Inn

DATE: Nov 11, 2022 | CATEGORY: Local News

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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