Newsletter - The Durango Herald

Fort Lewis College volleyball announces fall schedule

Skyhawks to host tournament for first time in program history

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: College Sports

Man found dead in La Plata County Jail

21-year-old died Sunday, official says

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Memorial Day ceremonies held in Montezuma County

American Legion Honor Guard conducts ceremonies, serves breakfast

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Lives lost in war honored at Memorial Day services around Durango

‘We may not know them all, but we owe them all’

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Photo: Wheeling over the Animas

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: And the West is History

‘Canning’ with glass is a jarring concept

When I was a kid, we had a large garden and put up veggies. We jarred ketchup, beets, beans, tomatoes, corn and other crops. I just don’t understand why we call this “canning” when it’s “jar...

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: Action Line

La Plata County hires community development director

Neal Starkebaum joins county amid rocky land-use code rewrite

DATE: May 27, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Stephan Davoust dominates Iron Horse Bicycle Classic mountain bike race

First IHBC win for hometown pro

DATE: May 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Monopolies drive health care costs in Southwest Colorado

Legislation seeks to increase transparency, lower costs

DATE: May 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Memorial Day rain expected in Southwest Colorado

Wet weather could delay work to reopen Colorado Highway 145

DATE: May 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Have you been keeping up with local headlines? Test your knowledge in Quiz No. 20

About 100 people participated in last week’s quiz. Participants scored highest on a question about a stolen item from the La Plata County Humane Society thrift store, with 91% of ...

DATE: May 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Tips for snapping safe selfies while traveling

Stay focused on your surroundings, don’t be selfish

DATE: May 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Travel

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