Newsletter - The Durango Herald

Trial of murder suspect Rick Stallings delayed

Man suspected of killing longtime Durangoan Karen Cugnini

DATE: Sep 19, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

About 4,000 residents in Southwest Colorado gain health insurance since Affordable Care Act

Statewide survey finds uninsured rate declining

DATE: Sep 19, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Talk About Town: Durango a top destination for an affordable fall vacation

The Animas River, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, and San Juan National Forest made Durango one of the “12 Best Adventure Towns for an Affordable Fall Vacation” alongside destinat...

DATE: Sep 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Ignacio student’s robotic hand up for national award

Marissa Jordan plans to use robot to make a glove for the disabled

DATE: Sep 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Man who fell rescued from La Plata Mountains

Helicopter used to identify man’s exact location

DATE: Sep 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Veteran Albuquerque TV reporter killed in helicopter crash

The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE – A longtime reporter-videographer at an Albuquerque TV station has died after the news helicopter he was piloting crashed in central New Mexico, ...

DATE: Sep 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: Regional News

How to be a socially conscious traveler

Advocates for ethical travel don’t want tourists to stop having fun, they just want them to think about how they’re spending their time and money. “Essentially we’re talking about...

DATE: Sep 18, 2017 | CATEGORY: Travel

Across U.S., lawmakers chip away at public’s access to records

Freedom-of information advocates expect trend to continue

DATE: Sep 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: Nation & World

Two will be honored for dedication to Durango Public Library

They will be celebrated at two events

DATE: Sep 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fort Lewis College soccer teams record first wins

Volleyball earns conference victory

DATE: Sep 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: College Sports

Talk about town: Post office ramps up stamp sale for breast cancer research

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Durango Post Office will increase its fundraising efforts to support breast cancer research through a stamp sale. Since it was first ...

DATE: Sep 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

Missionary says Operation Christmas Child changed her life

Yuri Lopez speaks at Methodist church

DATE: Sep 17, 2017 | CATEGORY: Local News

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