Newsletter - The Durango Herald

Fort Lewis College women’s basketball adds two new assistants

Griego, Rambo join Flores on sideline

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: College Sports

Outdoor enthusiasts rejoice: Trails and open spaces reopen

Public lands were closed because of extreme fire danger

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Federal, local agencies reopen public lands

U.S. Forest Service says rain last weekend improved conditions

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Fire crews begin rehab along eastern perimeter of 416 Fire

Fire grew to 34,184 acres; 37 percent contained

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Durango train to offer limited service beginning Friday

Coal-fired locomotives to resume service July 4, weather permitting

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Burro Fire holding steady; hot, dry weather is coming

Containment remains at 53 percent; personnel reduced

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Purgatory to reopen for summer activities July 2

Purgatory Resort will reopen for summer activities July 2 and lodging accommodations will reopen June 29. The resort was forced to temporarily suspend its operations during the 41...

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bar D Chuckwagon celebrates 50th summer season

Cowboy, Western food and music entertains locals, tourists

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Arts and Entertainment

La Plata County Clerk’s Office says thank U to firefighters

Wooden ‘U’ also reminds unaffiliated voters they can participate in primaries

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

La Plata County will remain in Stage 3 fire restrictions

Commissioners say fire danger still high

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Local News

Community fund accepting applications for those impacted by 416 Fire

Ska Brewing to hold fundraiser Saturday

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Pine River Times news

416 Fire will be under new management Friday

NIMO team to shadow Type 1 Team on Thursday

DATE: Jun 21, 2018 | CATEGORY: Pine River Times 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