Thank you - The Durango Herald

Thank you from Absmeier Trucking

On Sept. 24, we were heading down the mountain in cattle trucks, 13 miles above Dolores. In meeting a few cars, we moved over, my front truck/trailer caved off the shoulder taking the traile...

DATE: Oct 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Durango Pickleball tournament grateful for support

I wanted to thank all of the people and sponsors responsible for a great pickleball sporting event that was held in Durango on Sept. 21 and 22. The Southwest Colorado Pickleball Association ...

DATE: Oct 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you to the sponsors and participants of Animas Museum Live

The La Plata County Historical Society would like to sincerely thank those who sponsored and/or participated in Animas Museum Live event on Sept. 14. Their support contributed to the success...

DATE: Oct 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

The Community Foundation grateful for support

The Community Foundation serving Southwest Colorado appreciates the generous support of all those who attended our Community Taste gratitude dinner. Special thanks to Ridgewood ...

DATE: Oct 8, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Durango Friends of the Arts enjoyed food, profits

A Durango Friends of the Arts class, “Cooking with Carol,” was relished late last August at the home of Carol Bruno, who shared her flare for Italian cooking with a dozen ladies who helped i...

DATE: Oct 5, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Joyce Thayer grateful for community support

Recently, a neighbor’s home in Rafter J burned to the ground. In spite of the divisive climate enveloping our entire nation these days, something very wonderful has occurred. People all arou...

DATE: Oct 4, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Durango Kiwanis grateful for support

On behalf of Durango Kiwanis Pancake Day, we would like to thank the following volunteers and businesses for their kind donations. Kiwanis is a local organization that raises money to be don...

DATE: Oct 3, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from National Spirit of ’45

The National Spirit of ’45 and Rosie the Riveter Memorial Rose Garden, Durango, co-chairs Jim and Judy Winzell would like to thank all attendees who came out to support the Rose Garden Dedic...

DATE: Sep 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Durango Special Olympics grateful for donations

Durango Special Olympics would like to thank the following groups and individuals for their financial and in-kind support of their 2018 -2019 sport season. The money raised paid for van rent...

DATE: Sep 26, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

La Plata Youth Services grateful for Leadership La Plata volunteers

Thank you, Leadership La Plata alumni, for generously taking time on a recent Saturday to garden for La Plata Youth Services. LLP was willing to mulch and plant the flowers beds following up...

DATE: Sep 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Housing Solutions for the Southwest grateful for donations

Housing Solutions for the Southwest would like to express our gratitude to St. Columba Church and Power to Act, Kristen Carico for organizing the donation of household items. We ...

DATE: Sep 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Know Your Dough receives donation

Know Your Dough, a nonprofit that provides tailored, in-person financial wellness programs for local youths, is grateful to have received a donation from the El Pomar Foundation. ...

DATE: Sep 20, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

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