Newsletter - The Durango Herald

La Plata County youth speak about how they do – or don’t – connect with their community

Human connection is the No. 1 protective factor for preventing suicide, according to mental health experts. In this story, youth from all walks of life in La Plata County talk about how they...

DATE: Sep 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Series explores how suicide-prevention efforts work

Dear readers, Today, we bring you the first of a six-part series about youth suicide in La Plata County. Specifically, we are bringing you stories focused on solutions for education, s...

DATE: Sep 28, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Game of the Week: New focus for Bayfield football in league opener

Alamosa signals start of IML play on homecoming night

DATE: Sep 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: High School Sports

Retired Hollywood stuntman looks back at his career

Durangoan Bud Davis: ‘It was great fun; the best job I could imagine.’

DATE: Sep 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Film, TV and Streaming

Four nonprofits receive $70,000 in grants for health, wellness

New foundation distributes funds with goal of improving overall well-being

DATE: Sep 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bear injured during 416 Fire ‘doing really well’

Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to release young sow in January

DATE: Sep 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Texas man pleads guilty in Lightner Creek murder

Kevin Goff faces up to 32 years in prison for felony robbery

DATE: Sep 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Candidates square off in Bayfield

Area voters learn about marijuana sales, library district mill levy

DATE: Sep 27, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Beat down of Phillies, Dodgers loss send Rockies to NL West lead

Marquez magnificent with 11 Ks

DATE: Sep 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Professional Sports

Fire destroys mobile home near Gem Village

The cause is under investigation

DATE: Sep 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Author and activist Chuck Collins to address inequality

Chuck Collins to discuss community-driven solutions

DATE: Sep 26, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango school board backs statewide tax hike for education

Amendment 73 would raise $8 million for Durango schools

DATE: Sep 26, 2018 | 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