Water supply - The Durango Herald

What to expect from an above-average spring runoff

Area reservoirs are likely to fill; meanwhile, rapid snowmelt could result in flooding

DATE: Apr 7, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Biden administration rolls out $585 million for Western water projects

Colorado projects will receive $68.3 million, the third-most of any state

DATE: Apr 6, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Colorado River Basin reservoirs still face grim outlook despite healthy snowpack

Winter snow accumulation offers water officials a breather as they face the basin’s long-term drought

DATE: Apr 4, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Food and water: A future that is one and the same

Efficient use is conservation, say farmers at Southwestern Water Conservation District’s annual seminar

DATE: Apr 3, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

City to accommodate certified public water operators as it ends fire hydrant leasing program

Well on Wheels owner relieved business can continue

DATE: Mar 31, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Bennet starts a conversation to emphasize forest health

In a subcommittee hearing, the senator advocated for fire prevention and forest restoration

DATE: Mar 31, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Heavy snowfall a boon to cloud seeding in Southwest Colorado – until it isn’t

Region has received so much snow that operations have ceased

DATE: Mar 27, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Program to cut Colorado River water use shuffles forward

Plan is a key strategy in the Upper Basin’s plan to conserve water and help replenish reservoirs and rivers in the Colorado River Basin

DATE: Mar 22, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

EPA’s new PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ could have implications for Colorado

Fed agency issues long-awaited mandatory drinking water caps for the toxic chemical

DATE: Mar 15, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Healthy snowpack promises to offer some relief for strained water supplies

Colorado’s statewide snowpack is above average weeks ahead of normal seasonal peak

DATE: Mar 14, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Boebert talks priorities for working-class families and water in Colorado

Congresswoman breaks down her fight to bring back ‘good-paying jobs’ and better water allocation

DATE: Mar 10, 2023 | CATEGORY: Local News

Kamala Harris discusses water conservation, climate change during stop in Arvada

Vice president was joined by U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen and climber Sasha DiGiulian

DATE: Mar 7, 2023 | CATEGORY: Regional News

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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