Newsletter - The Durango Herald

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

Health issues rise amid oil, gas boom in New Mexico

Medical science lagging behind pace of drilling

DATE: May 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Southwest Life

Dolores grads celebrate commencement and a new chapter

Students told to embrace vulnerability, be kind

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bike from Durango to ski at Purgatory? Why not?

Hundreds of Iron Horse Bicycle Classic racers passed Purgatory, for some it was a destination

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Update: Crew blasts boulder blocking Colorado 145

CDOT hopes to open temporary bypass road early this week

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Pine River Times news

Partisan bills compete to reform hard-rock mining laws

Democrats and Republicans propose different solutions

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Iron Horse Citizen Tour features skiers, a suit and lots of friends

Family completes bike ride and ski run Saturday

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Sarah Sturm wins women’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic in landslide

Vasse and Caruso complete podium for second consecutive year

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Griffin Easter wins the 48th Iron Horse Bicycle Classic

FLC alum sprints past California’s Thompson at IHBC pro men’s road race

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Back to the future: New York’s TWA Hotel is a stylish work in progress

The retro chic TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport wants you to think of the Brat Pack, the Beatles and the soaring grace of Eero Saarinen’s futuristic terminal, dedicated to ...

DATE: May 25, 2019 | CATEGORY: Travel

Weekly planner for May 27-31

Information and agendas about city meetings City of Durango: La Plata County: www.co.laplata.co.us or call 382-6210. Town of Bayfield: www.bayfieldgov.org or call 884-9544. ...

DATE: May 25, 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