Thank you - The Durango Herald

Durango Friends of the Arts Thanks Sky Ute Casino

Durango Friends of the Arts was one of the chosen nonprofits to participate in Sky Ute Casinoâ€™s Money Booth on May 16. We thank the Southern Ute Indian Tribe for their generous...

DATE: May 23, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Know Your Dough grateful for support

The Board of Directors at Know Your Dough, a local nonprofit providing financial literacy for youths and young adults, would like to thank Bayfield Middle Schoolâ€™s seventh grade social stu...

DATE: May 23, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from the Women’s Resource Center

The Women’s Resource Center would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time, materials and other resources to make our Get Your Girl Power event possible this year. As a...

DATE: May 16, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from Wanda Ellingson

Thank you, Durango and the Four Corners community for honoring me at my recent retirement celebration held at Sky Ute Casino and Resort. Thank you, Amanda Moore McBride, dean of ...

DATE: May 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from Lloyd Cruz

A couple of months ago, I got bad gas from the Sonoco in Grandview. I immediately called and let Mark, who was working there, know what had transpired. He was very apologetic. Th...

DATE: May 7, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Cancer Coalition S.W. Colorado grateful for support

The Cancer Coalition of Southwest Colorado would like to thank the many members of the Four Corners Gem and Mineral Club who donated “Hope Stones” for people with Cancer. This project was sp...

DATE: Apr 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from Cancer Coalition of S.W. Colorado

The Cancer Coalition of S.W. Colorado and the American Cancer Society Cancer Resource Center volunteers would like to thank the Florida Mesa Church Knitting and Crochet Circle for their “lab...

DATE: Apr 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from Animas High School

Animas High School would like to thank the local businesses and individuals who made the 2019 prom such a great success. We are grateful for the hospitality of the Durango Elks L...

DATE: Apr 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from John Anderson

I would like to thank Greg Sykes, the Durango Parks and Recreation Forestry staff and Rich Hoehlein – the chair of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board – for their award to me for my serv...

DATE: Apr 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Animas High School grateful for support

Animas High School would like to thank Andy and Abby Snow and the whole crew at Niniâ€™s Taqueria for sponsoring an Ospreys Dining Out fundraising event this spring. Thanks to th...

DATE: Apr 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Thank you from El Centro

Sincere thanks to the donors who supported our first crowd-funding campaign for Ballet Folklorico de Durango at Fort Lewis College. With your support, we surpassed our goal of raising $5,000...

DATE: Apr 30, 2019 | CATEGORY: Community

Brennan Family grateful for support

On behalf of the Brennan family and Brennan Oil, we wish to express how much we appreciated all the many, many cards, flowers and delicious food we have received in memory of Charley. ...

DATE: Apr 18, 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

Photos: Ride with the Champions bike parade

Photos: Changing colors

Photos: Fort Lewis College Volleyball sweeps Black Hills StateSkyhawks off to best start since 2006

Skyhawks off to best start since 2006

Photos: Durango High School football takes on Piedra Vista High SchoolDemons’ defense dominates in 17-0 victory on Friday night

Demons’ defense dominates in 17-0 victory on Friday night

Skyhawks beat Lubbock Christian 2-1 in season opener on Thursday

Photos: Four Corners Motorcycle RallyLots of motorcycles and tattoos were on display on Saturday

Lots of motorcycles and tattoos were on display on Saturday

Photos: Four Corners Motorcycle Rally Rodeo

Photos: Durango High School football opens its seasonDemons lost 35-14 to Montrose at home on Friday night

Demons lost 35-14 to Montrose at home on Friday night