Newsletter - The Durango Herald

Three boats with mussels found trying to enter Navajo State Park

Threat of invasive species increasing, agency says

DATE: May 21, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Details emerge in shooting death near Ignacio

Cortez man makes first court appearance

DATE: May 21, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Mancos FoodShare providing free lunches at library

Mancos FoodShare to provide free lunches at library for local kids, teens

DATE: May 21, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango girls golf sits takes third at state tournament

Demons have highest finish at weather-shortened tournament

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: High School Sports

San Miguel County deputies seek burglary suspect

Early morning crimes reported in Sawpit and Placerville

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Could Colorado lose its industrial advantage over hemp?

State had a jump-start on growing crop, but it could lag in processing plants

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Jurors deliberate man’s fate in sexual assault trial

Prosecution, defense make closing arguments Monday morning

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Purgatory Resort to open for skiing Saturday, Sunday

New snow expected to fall through Thursday

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Cortez man arrested in connection with Ignacio death

50-year-old apprehended on suspicion of first-degree murder

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Spring storm zaps Durango, Mancos and Cortez with snow

More is forecast for later this week

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Local News

Auto-attendants aren’t dialed in to modern lingo

In the last couple of days, I’ve noticed something odd when calling businesses. Auto-attendants inform callers to “dial” a particular extension for assistance or to leave a message. Even at ...

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Action Line

Photo: The fairgrounds ‘airport’

DATE: May 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: And the West is History

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