Navajo Nation - The Durango Herald

Navajo Nation: 17 new COVID cases, no deaths third day in row

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported 17 new COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the third consecutive day. The latest numbers brought the total number of coron...

DATE: Jul 21, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Albuquerque man dies in officer-involved shooting east of Shiprock

Shawn Thomas suspected of brandishing firearm, leading law enforcement on chase

DATE: Jul 14, 2021 | CATEGORY: New Mexico

Autopsy: Teenage girl died from dog attack on Navajo Nation

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – An autopsy has confirmed that a 13-year-old girl was killed by pack of dogs while taking a walk near her family’s home on the Navajo Nation. Lyssa Rose Upshaw had extensi...

DATE: Jul 14, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation reports 6 new COVID-19 cases, but no deaths

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported six new COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths. The figures released by the Navajo Department of Health brought the total number ...

DATE: Jul 13, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo leaders urge mask wearing even as virus cases are low

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation reported 14 new cases of coronavirus on Friday and one recent death. The figures released by the Navajo Department of Health bring the total number of ...

DATE: Jul 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Amber Alert suspect arrested after nighttime search west of Dolores

Regional law enforcement agencies team up in search for missing children

DATE: Jul 9, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Navajo Nation: 24 new COVID-19 cases, no deaths for fourth day

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Thursday reported 24 new COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the fourth consecutive day. Tribal health officials said the total number of c...

DATE: Jul 8, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation reports no COVID-19 deaths for 3rd consecutive day

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Wednesday reported eight new COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the third consecutive day. Tribal health officials said the total number o...

DATE: Jul 8, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Missing girl from Arizona found safe in Durango

A juvenile reported missing June 11 has been found safe, according to a Cortez Police Department Facebook post Friday afternoon. “Sydney Ski Mutte has been found safe and sound and is curren...

DATE: Jul 2, 2021 | CATEGORY: Local News

Navajo Nation: 3 COVID cases, no deaths for third day in row

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported three new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths for the third consecutive day. Tribal health officials said the sprawling res...

DATE: Jun 29, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation reports 2 more COVID-19 cases and 1 more death

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Thursday reported two new cases of COVID-19 and one more death. Tribal health officials say the sprawling reservation that stretches into New Mexic...

DATE: Jun 24, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Navajo Nation reports 5 new COVID-19 cases and 1 more death

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported five new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death. Tribal health officials said the sprawling reservation that stretches into Ne...

DATE: Jun 22, 2021 | CATEGORY: Regional News

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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