Newsletter - The Durango Herald

Durango Herald Girls Underclassman of the Year: Ignacio High’s Avaleena Nanaeto

Freshman’s quiet nature drove Bobcats on court

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: High School Sports

Bayfield alum Clay Miller pitching in Ontario

Back from arm injury to the Intercounty Baseball League

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Pine River Times sports

Big Picture High School graduates tight-knit class of 13

Seniors worked to improve mental health among class

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County approves bonds to remodel Tamarin Square

Commissioners express desire to preserve complex as affordable housing

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Police looking for vandal who drew swastikas on vacant homes

Surveillance camera captures image of suspect

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Local health director tapped by Gov. Polis to help lead oil and gas changes

Liane Jollon to elevate mission of public safety on COGCC

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Former Bayfield primary school to fill up with nonprofits, clinic

Child care co-op to offer new services, meeting space for parents

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Wet weather causes travel delays in San Juan National Forest

Campgrounds at high elevation may remain snow-covered until July

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango man charged with six felonies for child pornography

Lucas Schoepke suspected of possessing hundreds of images

DATE: May 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

New climate study ordered for Colorado, Utah energy leases

DENVER – U.S. officials must consider climate change effects from leasing about 250 square miles of public lands in Colorado and Utah for oil and gas drilling, under a federal court ruling i...

DATE: May 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Business

Shooting, road cases move forward

On happened in Dolores, the other concerns a Mancos road

DATE: May 29, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Behind the decision to allow chain saws in Southwest Colorado wilderness areas

Documents show agency proposed project for access to trails

DATE: May 29, 2019 | 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