Newsletter - The Durango Herald

Suffering soil may cause city to make changes to organic parks program

Lack of nitrogen puts turf in poor condition

DATE: Nov 13, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Party leaders call for changes in workplace harassment policies at Legislature

In the wake of recent sexual misconduct allegations against a member of the Colorado Legislature, party leaders say they are taking a closer look at their workplace harassment policies. ...

DATE: Nov 13, 2017 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Montezuma County, BLM may team up for Sand Canyon solution

Large crowds create hazard at popular trailhead

DATE: Nov 13, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Racist, vulgar note on car prompts police inquiry

Couple targeted for anti-Trump T-shirts at rec center

DATE: Nov 13, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Colorado’s boom times means government jobs have to up their recruitment game

Local governments say they are increasingly turning to guerilla marketing and financial incentives – including signing bonuses – to try and lure employees in Colorado’s exceedingly tight job...

DATE: Nov 13, 2017 | CATEGORY: Business

Water law has different slant on roofs and snow

There’s a big new house going up in our neighborhood. So here’s the thing: Nearly every house nearby is designed so that snow sheds to the back and front yards. This new one, however, is des...

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Fixing Colorado’s forests with the help of ‘citizen science’

FRISCO – The pine beetle came to Summit County in 2005, turning scores of trees red and creeping higher up the mountainsides each year. Twelve years later, nearly every stand of l...

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Regional News

No. 16 Fort Lewis College men’s basketball rebounds in big way at The Pit

Defense strong, offense shaky after first weekend

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: College Sports

Ring in the sky catches people’s eye Sunday

Theories of alien invasion, Russian meddling abound

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Accused of harassment, Colo. lawmaker apologizes for causing pain

DENVER – After initially saying that he hadn’t done anything wrong or criminal, a Colorado state legislator accused of sexually harassing a fellow lawmaker and other women said Saturday he i...

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Hong Kong is the world’s top city for international visits

Asia Pacific region is drawing more of world’s travelers

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Travel

Black Friday is dead

Era of holiday deals may be gone

DATE: Nov 12, 2017 | CATEGORY: Business

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